Rain of Minnesota
by Krystel of Elaria
Summary: What would you do if after you met an Autobot your life just seemed to totally spiral out of control. Not only that but you and your friends soon find out that you're actually Autobots thought to have died millions of years ago!
1. Chapter 1

Hey there! This is my first Transformers fan fiction! Hope you enjoy!

**Rating: T**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any characters relating to Transformers, even though I own the DVDs. I only own my OCs that are in the story.

_TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT_– scene change

**Name:** change of the pov

_Italics_ telepathy, "_italics_" talking on a phone

Well that's it. On with the story.

I'm not really sure where to begin in this story. But then again I did not even know where I was until I asked a doctor in the hospital I woke up in all those years ago. You see . . . I only remember getting hit with some kind of energy beam, speaking with my friends, and then blacking out. Only then waking up in the hospital a full six days later!

The doctor even told me that he wasn't sure I was even going to make it at all! Boy did I surprise him!

Though I guess with any good story, it is best to start at the beginning. Finally I believe I have the strength and the heart to write in my own hand the events from both my own and my friends' points of view as they took place one by one.

I still remember that first meeting like it just occurred yesterday even though it started long before that when I was young, and did not truly remember who I was. It began on a dark, rainy night, just as I was returning home from a family reunion in Indiana . . .

I switched on the wind-shield wipers on to the second setting, just as the downpour that I was driving in came down even harder to almost make the road disappear from my eyesight, if that was even possible. But then again the month of May is when my home city of Duluth in Minnesota starts getting a ton of rain from Lake Superior. The wind didn't really help either as I struggled slightly to keep my little blue Ford car on the road.

The highway I was driving on was full of twists and turns. It would not be a straight path for a few more miles. I wanted to drive faster, since I wanted to get home real badly. I had been cooped up down in Indy for the past two weeks, having to share a room with one of my two annoying sisters, and I just wanted to get home and have some alone time. And most importantly some quiet. I had not been able to get one moment of peace at the reunion and I hated when that happened. My family was not the easiest to get along with, especially when most thought themselves to be far better than those around them.

My foot started to press the pedal to the floor but my mind overruled it and I moved my foot back as my grandfather's lecture ran through my head about all the things that happened to people when they tried to drive fast on a road in this kind of weather, so I just took it slow.

My notebooks and laptop shifted a little in the passenger seat as I turned at another curve. The noise of the rain competing with the bass from the Toby Keith song that blasted from the speakers of the CD player. I turned right one final time and looking through the gloom of the pouring rain, just barely made out the lights of Duluth in the distance.

The cranes that stood above the bay, where they loaded and unloaded cargo ships stood like soldiers guarding the town from any outside invaders. I crossed the bridge over the lake and turned onto the main street that led to the center of town. The street was still brightly lit on either side since the volunteer workers had not yet taken down the Easter decorations on the light poles lining either side of the street, even though we were almost into the middle of May.

I turned onto Kennedy Parkway, and drove up the large hill to get to my subdivision. Well, it really wasn't a subdivision; the houses that people lived in were, and still are built right into the city but are all located above the city on the side of the mountains that are on the western side of Duluth. My house was located on the edge of Silverstream Drive, just about four city-blocks away from the edge of the cliffside that looked down on the lake. My house faced the bay just enough so that I could sit outside in the morning on my second floor balcony and watch the ships go in and out of port.

My house's storm-blue paint color blended in with the slight misty fog that the rain had started to create. Other houses in the area were painted bright colors; most people here didn't like to lose sight of their house in a rain storm like this. I pulled up into my driveway and slowly drove my car into the garage, and got out after grabbing my things on the other seat. I put those into the backpack I had so they wouldn't get wet from the rain.

The only upside to this dreary weather was that my car got a free bath. The downside was that my garage was not connected to my house in any way. Not that I minded, I had an umbrella.

I slung my bag onto my back and opened the umbrella after closing the garage door. I had just started walking towards the front door when I noticed it for the first time. I turned and saw an ambulance parked outside of my house, on the curb at the edge of my lawn. I had seen ambulances before but not one like this. This one was pure white except for the red markings on its front, sides, and back.

The ambulances, heck even the fire trucks around here were painted with this more lime than yellow shade of color. That sure did not help add to the fact that people couldn't see them in this weather anyway unless their lights were on. Some of my friends in town had petitioned for a new paint job, but no one at city hall had listened to them.

I put my backpack into the house and then went back outside to inspect the ambulance. I circled it, carefully checking all around for signs of damage or missing pieces. Thank goodness there weren't any. Sometimes it seemed like this town had more problems with vandals then with actual criminals, and that was not an exactly pleasing thought. I turned and went back into the garage, and grabbed a large black vinyl tarp that I had on a shelf and brought it back outside. Spreading the tarp over the ambulance was not easy, but it worked. Not only was the car now covered from the rain, it was also, hopefully, protected from any vandals patrolling the streets looking for an easy target to swipe.

Nodding at my handiwork, I picked up my umbrella and walked back into the house. Leaving the umbrella next to the door, I went upstairs to change out of my now soaked clothes and took a shower. I was sure to first take off the silver pendant that I inherited from my mother; I did not want to ruin it. I sat in the warm water, letting it soak into my cold joints and muscles. Exiting the shower after a good hour, I was in my pajamas and ready for bed. I looked out the window at the rain. Don't get me wrong I like the rain, just not when it has been going on for a record of six days. I spotted the dark shape of the ambulance in the darkness sitting just where I had left it.

I smiled slightly, and went to bed, falling asleep almost instantly and expecting everything to be peaceful.

I was dead wrong.

I had been dozing for about an hour when the sensations started again. Unknown to me, my pendant had started glowing a faint sky blue and had levitated a few inches off of the table. The horrible sense of pure energy, for that is the only way for me to describe it, was coursing through my body and trapped me in a world of hideous nightmares.

Shots ripped through me, abject the terror and pain as I was being pulled back deeper into the dream. A strong, horrible sense of loss engulfed me as I felt myself being torn, no, forced away from everything that I had ever known and loved. And finally the ultimate blackness of oblivion as I felt myself leaving my body to take on another life and also feeling the pain of my two friends that felt the same way as it happened to them.

My eyes rested on the face of a robot, glaring at me with blue eyes as he nodded his head and snapped his fingers, turning everything to black.

TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

The sleep visions that tormented me all night eventually subsided near dawn like always. It wasn't as if this was the first time, the dreams felt like some sort of lost memory of a previous life or something. Strange, I know, but for some reason that explanation seemed to work for me more than anything else at the time.

I pulled myself from the latest of the nightmares. Waking up to find bright sunlight shinning in my face as it came in through the large, floor to ceiling windows that led out to the balcony. I turned over to try once again to find some peace when I heard knocking and the ringing of my doorbell from downstairs. Sound travels feely through my house.

I looked at the clock and found that it was nearly eleven a.m. Tugging myself out of the mangled sheets, I threw on some socks, blue jeans with a jewel design of a red, silver, and blue butterfly on the right front pocket, and a plain all-white, v-neck T-shirt. I clasped my necklace, took a brush to my hair, and then ran downstairs to open the door for the person who was so determinedly pounding on the darn thing before they grabbed something to tear it off its hinges.

Opening the door, I found my two close friends standing there grinning at me. I had to smile at them. They were both determined little things, I say little because I towered over both of them with my 5'8" of height. Though I was surprised that Jennifer, or Jen, was even here since her father seemed to believe that Tara and I were a bad influence on her.

Jen is the shortest out of the three of us with her 5'4" in height. She had long, waist length dark blonde hair and hazel eyes. Tara, on the other hand, was 5'6" in height with shoulder length auburn hair and chocolate brown eyes. What was weird though, even with the fact that Tara stood between both Jen and me in height, I was the one who stood as the mediator. Tara and Jen always fought over just about everything.

I glanced between the two of them as I leaned on the doorjam.

"Hey you two, what's up?" I yawned, "What are you doing up here anyway? I thought, Jen, that your dad believes that T and I are corrupting your little mind."

Jen grinned as she pushed her bangs out of her face. "I'm gonna ignore that comment for now. Besides I can hang out with you if I want, you're my friends. Besides I'm not sixteen anymore, he can't order me around."

I motioned for them to come in, as it was still a little cold from yesterday. Both of them dropped off their coats on the bench and went into the kitchen. As always, they were hungry, I swear both of them were bottomless pits in that department. Tara grabbed a coke and Jen a root-beer and followed me into the living room. Tara sat on the L-shaped couch, while Jen got the loveseat, and I sat down in my favorite recliner chair.

"You didn't answer my question. What exactly are you two doing here? I thought you two were going to the mall in Minneapolis today?"

Tara looked at me. "You haven't seen what's on the tube this morning?"

I shook my head. "No. You two woke me up with your banging. What is on there? More on the war or something?"

Jen put down her glass and got up to turn on the television, flipping through the different channels before coming to the local news station. I just stared at the TV, my mouth nearly falling open. There was a familiar stretch of I-2 that I took to work in Fargo, not exactly right outside town, but close enough I guess. The camera was far away but it could make out some planes coming towards the city as well as a huge semi truck with a black cab that had windows tinted purple.

As they got closer to the camera I could see the violet symbol that humans had come to fear. The symbol of the Decepticons. The camera pulled back and showed that these Decepticons were a large group of vehicles with the Autobot symbol. The Decepticons were heading towards the city, with the Autobots in pursuit. The only question in my mind though was, why?

"You see now why we're up here?" Tara asked. "Are you going to come with us out of the city or not. If the Decepticons are coming here then you know there's trouble, but why'd they're heading here, don't know."

Jen nodded, "The mayor issued an order that everyone is to get out of the city before the Cons' and Autobots get here. You coming?"

I shook my head. "No I'm going to stay here; you two can go on if you want. There's something I have to do first though." I guess any reasonable person would have called me just plain stupid.

But thankfully not these two as Jennifer and Tara stared at me and then plopped themselves back onto the couches. A smile graced my lips as I looked back at them, they never did anything without me and if I was staying here to ride this out then they would too. Talk about true friends when they stuck with ya no matter what happened. They had been doing that ever since we met back in elementary school.

"Stay here until I get back then." I ordered, throwing on a jacket.

"Alright, we'll be here. Don't be too long!" both of them said in sync like they had practiced it as I went out the door.

I had to laugh. Those two seemed to speak in sync a lot, more times than once making me think they were twins in another life.

I went just a few feet from my door and down the walkway before I stepped on something. When I looked down I saw that it was my black tarp that I had covered the ambulance with the night before, nicely folded with a small note attached. The note read, '_Thank you for keeping me . . . my car that is protected from the rain and other people, if I can ever repay you just call using the com . . . phone attached to the tarp with this note_.'

Weird. Did this person not know English? Or was he stopping himself from saying something he wasn't' supposed to? I shrugged and picked up the phone device. It was silver with gold symbols imprinted on it along with the red symbol that the ambulance had on its hood on the back surrounded by a white outline instead of black . . . wait red symbol? I looked down at it again, then the tarp.

_Oh my God!_ Mental head slap. _Boy do I feel stupid!_ I thought, mentally smacking myself in the head again.

Just as I was about to go back into my house, the large gas tanks the dock workers used for the ship exploded downtown. I whirled around in time to see the mushroom cloud rise over the waterfront part of the city. Oh man, I didn't think that they were that close to the city. Turning towards the garage to get my motorcycle to check it out I saw the ambulance from last night speed around the corner not far from my house.

What in the . . .? I shrugged it off and got on my motorcycle, making sure that my desert eagle was in place in its side holster, put on my helmet, and took off after it. Okay so it was crazy thing to do, but like most people my curiosity got the better of me.

My motorcycle seemed to fly down the road as I followed the ambulance. Only stopping when I got closer to where the explosion had sounded off only about five minutes before. The ambulance continued around the corner as I got off my bike, removed the helmet and moved to the corner with my gun in hand. Looking around the edge of the masonry building I saw at least two of the Decepticon planes; they must have flown ahead of the others.

They were removing glowing cubes from the factory that had been supplied with the diesel fuel for the ships before it went up in smoke. The one colored red and silver seemed to be the leader but by the way the other acted they didn't like him in charge so either the red one was a stupid lackey or just a really stupid and annoying second-in-command.

The ambulance stopped just a few feet away from them and transformed as well. He changed into a large white robot with the red ambulance markings still visible and pulled out some kind of gun before yelling at the two transformed jets.

The red one turned and shouted something else before he and his partner fired upon the Autobot, as I got closer to hear the conversation. The two cons fired on the Autobot knocking him backwards into a building on the other side of the street across from me. Once again I saw the symbol as he tried to get up. But he fell back down again and held his head where a large concrete slab had hit him. He sat in a slight daze, unaware of the Cons approaching him.

Not sure why exactly I did what I did next but I knew I had to do something. Glancing at my gun to make sure that all fourteen of the semi-automatic rounds were there and mentally kicked myself in the head. I then swung around the corner I was hiding behind, aimed my gun and the red one's eyes, and shot twice.

Ducking behind the corner again as the Con screamed, holding his face where both his eyes had once been, I scrambled to get behind a large green dumpster before the other Con noticed me. The blue and silver one looked around for me and was aiming and shooting at anything that was located where the shots may have come from.

The Autobot in the meantime, having gotten his vision back, had gotten up from where he was laying on the ground. He had a surprised look on his face at the scene before him. But he took advantage of it and shot the other Con, who was searching for me, and blasted him in his chest plate. He shouted something that I couldn't really make out over the still screaming robot but he grabbed the red one and blasted off into the sky and flew away from the city. Being careful to make sure the Autobot didn't see me; I ran the long way back to my bike and took off for the house.

Pulling into the driveway and nearly running over Tara and Jen who had both run out of the house and were yelling at me, asking where I had gone off too, I still managed to get my bike into the garage. I told them that I had gone into town for some food but it had gotten knocked out of my hands when the attack had started.

This explanation seemed to calm down their ruffled feathers enough for me to shoo them back into the house before going back to the front door to get the tarp off the front walk so people didn't trip over it. When I did, I spotted the Autobot, sitting in front of my house in his vehicle mode again. I smiled slightly as I folded the tarp again to carry it under one arm back to the garage when he finally said something.

"Thank you." He said.

I turned and walked back towards him, stopping on the sidewalk. "Your welcome, I guess. But what exactly did I do?"

He laughed a little, making his ambulance form shake a bit from side to side. "You've saved my life. I don't know what would have happened with those Decepticons if you hadn't followed me. You are quite a marksman."

"It's no problem. You needed help. I always give that freely no matter what the circumstances. I was beginning to wonder what exactly you were last night; we don't normally get someone like you around here."

"No I supposed you don't." he laughed again.

"You have a name?"

"It's Ratchet. And you?"

I smiled. "My name's Alia Maxwell but you can call me Angel. Everyone around here does."

"Alright, Angel. I like the sound of that." Ratch said. "I have something I want to ask you."

"Shoot," I said, tilting my head to one side.

"I wanted to know if there was a place around here where I and maybe some of my comrades may stay when they get here."

My eyes widened. "There are more of you coming here. Why?"

"There has been some recent Decepticon activity around here, as you saw earlier. I was sent here as a recon agent to check it out. The others are coming here to help me find out what exactly they are looking for. Though . . .?"

"What?"

"My commander gave orders that I'm to give him a report when he gets here. I'm not sure what to tell him, I wasn't really supposed to make contact with any humans in this area."

I looked down at my feet. Oh man, what have I done now? Then I said, "You can tell him what happened Ratch, just leave out the parts where you had help and met me. I'm sure he won't get mad if you don't mention it in the first place."

He thought about this for a few seconds before answering. "I guess I could do that just this once. Do you know of a place?"

I nodded. "Yeah I do. Why don't you meet me here in the morning and I'll take you to the place. No one goes up there anymore so you should have as much privacy as your group wants."

"Thanks. I'll meet you here in the morning then." He said. Then he drove off down the road, honking his horn before going around the corner. I waved at him. Then I went back to the garage to put the tarp away before heading back into the house.

TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

I woke up bright and early the next morning. For once I was well rested as the night visions had not tormented me. The visions were quiet, I wasn't sure of the reason then but I just figured that I had finally grown out of them. I dressed and went downstairs to the kitchen. I grabbed a blueberry muffin finishing it in three bites and grabbed a bottle of water before going outside to wash my motorcycle in the driveway before Ratchet got to the house.

Backing my bike into the driveway I balanced it on the kickstand before filling a bucket full of water and soap. I dropped the sponge into the bucket and grabbed a stool. Setting it down next to my bike I sat and started to clean off the dirt from the chrome and tires.

I sat back in my lawn chair admiring the new cleaned and polished bike that sat in the driveway drying in the sun's rays. My jacket hung on the back of the chair. Ratchet pulled up at the end of the driveway as I took a swig of water. Closing the lid, I grabbed the jacket putting it over my shoulders as I walked towards Ratchet.

"Hey."

"Hey yourself." Ratch said. "Nice bike."

I smiled. "Thanks. It's a Harley. I've had it for a couple of years."

"Really? Looks brand new." He replied.

I put my hands on my hips. "Are we gonna talk about my bike all day? Or am I going to show you where that place is?"

He laughed and opened the driver side door for me. I walked over and climbed in. Ratchet drove to the end of the road to the guardrail and turned around heading down the street. I looked around inside of Ratch's cab. I'd seen the inside of ambulances before but those were not as roomy. But I could understand that with him being an Autobot and everything else. The controls were basically the same except that the steering wheel moved by itself. I was looking at a screen in the middle of the dashboard when Ratchet's face appeared on it.

"I'm going the right way correct?"

I nodded as I leaned back in the seat. "Yeah. Just take the right two streets down."

Ratchet drove down the street past the hill that led to the center of town. He came up on Hillshire Road and turned right. This place at the top of the hill had been home to several automobile factories at one time before I had moved here. But now the factories had moved to somewhere else down south out of the cold weather.

Not that I blamed them when sometimes around here it got to forty below zero. A large group of construction workers had helped with the dismantling of the internal factory workings. But they had left the actual buildings still standing, though now completely gutted and left to collect dust so to speak.

Ratchet stopped in front of the one just next to the hill's crest. I had checked out this place yesterday. This warehouse was the biggest of the old factories on the street. The whole building was about eight stories tall to hold the cranes that had once been on the different assembly lines.

The great thing was about this place was that because this factory was the first one in the long row of buildings no one really paid any attention to it at all when they drove up here to get to the cliffside that over looked the mountains that stretched out with some of the water from Lake Superior flowing beneath it. They mostly just looked in the others in the row for extra concrete or parts that had been left behind to fix their cars with.

I got out of Ratchet's cab and slipped on my jacket as I walked over to the building's four story garage door. I heard Ratchet transform behind me as I opened up an old wiring panel to get at the door opener. I punched the button and closed the panel as the door started to open. I went inside and waited for the door to open up the whole way for Ratchet to come in, then I punched another button on an inside panel and the door started to slide back down but I stopped it so it was high enough for Ratchet to drive out of when we left.

Ratchet walked around the inside of the first room checking out the completely open space except for a stairway that led up to some offices that had been left there if the car manufacturers had decided to put a replacement factory up here. Rumor was that the city was going to tear these down and use this area for a new school or two but so far plans for that had fallen through the chain of command.

"Well, I didn't expect it to be so roomy in here." Ratchet said finally.

I laughed. "Yeah. You could never tell when all the equipment was here but now that it's gutted you can see it pretty clearly."

"What are those doors over there?" Ratchet asked. He pointed to a large door that went up all eight stories of the building.

"Oh those. Well there used to be multiple floors in the building but they took those out when the plant moved out of here. The people left the doors standing. Those slits in the door marked where the floors were when the plant was in full operation. The door marks the entrance to another room and then there is a third one in the far back." I explained.

Ratchet walked over to the tall door and pushed it open. All sections of the door were attached together to the same pulley system so obviously they all opened at once. I followed Ratchet as he went into the other room but stayed put as he checked out the third. He came back after a few minutes and gave the room another once over checking for any damage that anyone might have missed before. Finding none he walked back into the first one and made sure I was with him before he pulled the door shut.

"This will do really well. The last room I can set up a temporary medical station while the others set up a base in the second room. While this one . . . well, not sure about this room yet but I'm pretty sure that the others will find some use for it."

I looked up at him. "Glad you approve of it Ratch. This factory shell is truly ignored by anyone who passes by on the road itself down the hill but you will have the occasional sightseer that drives up here. But other than that I don't think anyone will investigate and strange new activity and find you up here. Just try not to make too much noise." I paused and looked up at him. "When are your friends arriving anyway?"

He looked down at me. "I spoke to Optimus, my commander, before rejoining you in the second room. He says that they are not too far outside of town and should be here either tonight or tomorrow morning, early at the latest. You okay?"

A look of shock must have passed on my face to make him say that. "T . . . tonight or tomorrow? Jeez you guys travel fast when you have to."

Ratchet laughed. "When a situation concerns the Decepticons we have to move fast to protect all you humans. Though . . . I do have to talk to you."

I looked at him questioningly. "About what?"

He shook his head. "Not here. Get in and we'll talk while I take you home."

I stood in place for a minute. But, shrugging, I finally complied getting into the passenger seat. Ratchet started to pull out of the abandoned factory and stopped long enough for me to press the button to close the garage. He then pulled out and turned to head back down the hill. We drove in silence for a while. He was driving slower than before. I looked out the window and sighed. Whatever it was that he had to talk to me about apparently wasn't good. I jumped about two feet in the air when he started speaking again.

"Angel . . ." he started.

"Jeez! Don't do that, you scared me!" I exclaimed leaning back farther into the seat. I heard him chuckle under his breath and his face came up on the monitor again.

"Sorry," he started again. "The thing is Angel. I'm not sure if it's a good idea for everyone to know about you yet. It's not that we wouldn't want another human friend, it is just that . . "

I nodded understanding. "You just don't want the Decepticons to find out about me and possibly hurt me while you all are here right?"

"Uh huh. I especially don't want anything to happen to you. I'd never forgive myself if you were hurt. Just give me some time to try and explain the situation to Optimus and the others." Ratch said concern adding an edge to his voice.

Ratchet pulled up to my house slowly. I nearly screamed when a human popped up in the seat next to me. I noticed that he was sort of see through like a simulator image they used at the museum to act as a tour guide for visitors. The hologram had short red hair with startling blue eyes and was dressed in a white t-shirt with a dark blue jeans and a light blue jacket trimmed in white with a red cross symbol on the right breast pocket, also outlined in white.

"Ratch. What's that?" I asked.

"It is a hologram. I activated it because your friends are standing in your driveway."

I looked ahead through his windshield. Sure enough there were Tara and Jennifer both standing there and boy did they look mad about something. Yikes.

Ratchet went around the end of the street and turned around, pulling up in front of my driveway. Tara and Jennifer stayed where they were as I slowly got out of Ratchet. I looked at the monitor as he nodded to me. 'I'll see you when I can.' He mouthed silently. I nodded back and shut the door behind me. Ratchet's hologram image nodded to me one more time and then he drove off.

I smiled as I watched him drive down the road and Tara and Jennifer came to stand by me. I knew that Ratchet cared about me. But I could sense what he wasn't saying too. He and I both weren't positively sure that the other Autobots would accept me as a friend. For them to find out about me would let Optimus Prime know that Ratchet had gone against orders and made contact with a human. I did not really want him to get in trouble. Hopefully when I finally met the others they would understand.

But I never expected things to go as badly as they did.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey there! This is my first Transformers fan fiction! Hope you enjoy!

**Rating: T**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any characters relating to Transformers, even though I own the DVDs. I only own my OCs that are in the story.

_TTTTTTTTTTT_ change in the scene (if there is one)

**Name:** change of the pov

'_Italics'_ telepathy, "_italics_" talking on a phone

My friends and some of the people on my street were starting to worry about me. Everyone had been on edge ever since the first Decepticon attack. Tara and Jen had come over to my house to walk with me down to Mrs. Johnson's home just three houses down. She had asked us to help her work on her garden in the front. It was full of weeds and other plants like poison ivy or oak, I could never tell.

I ignored it for the most part as Tara kept glancing at me out of the corner of her eye. She was only half listening to Jen telling her about something that her mom had found down where she worked in Minneapolis. Some kind of DVD or something.

Tara was the one who always worried about me no matter how many times I said I was fine. She never took my word for it. It was like her goal was to make sure that I was alright whatever the situation, she was sort of like a guardian. Jen too, though she did not worry about me as often.

As we walked down the road I just stared off into space in my own thoughts about what had been going on. It had been two weeks since I had last talked to Ratch. He had called me on the phone he had given me the day after I had showed him the building, telling me that his friends had arrived in the city and they approved of the factory. He said that he would see me when he could. But I hadn't heard from him since then.

I knew that I shouldn't have been, but I was worried about him. Hopefully nothing had happened to him if there had been another attack outside of the city. Wherever I went, like now, I always had the phone in my pocket with an ear listening at all times if it started ringing. No such luck yet.

We arrived at the house. Mrs. Johnson was already outside and directed us to where her other pairs of gloves were and had us grab the new tools she had purchased from Lowes the other day to help exterminate the weeds. Tara grabbed the water hose to give the flowers that we planted a drink, though she seemed to get the water more on Jennifer more than the flowers. I was cleaning the tools that I used from the second water spout when those two started a water war but Tara was winning since Jen only had a watering can.

I just shook my head taking off the gloves that I had on, laying them on the step as I helped Mrs. Johnson bringing out the food she had made as a thank you to us for helping.

I sat on the front step to her house dodging the water sprayed at me. I put down my food for a second and ran over to my friends. I grabbed the hose out of T's hand and turned it on her. Then I took it and turned the water supply off before walking back over to my lunch. T and Jen finally stopped laughing enough to come and sit down before all the food was gone. I had just finished my first sandwich, listening to the music coming from the house and half listening to the conversation T and Jen were having with Mrs. Johnson.

"Angel . . . Hey Angel!"

I jumped. "What?"

Tara smirked. "I think your boyfriend's here." She motioned over to the sidewalk. I looked up to find Ratchet . . . well Ratchet's holo-form standing there watching up. He smiled and motioned for me to come over. I smiled back and put down my food to walk over, glaring at Tara and Jen as they tried to stifle their laughter.

I walked over to Ratch. "Hey. Whatcha doing here?"

He smirked. "What? I can't visit you now?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm just surprised. Considering that I haven't heard from you in awhile . . . how are you doing this anyway?"

"Huh, oh. The hologram can stay away from me for a good ninety minutes or so, solid too. Wheeljack designed the system so you'd have to ask him for the technical details."

"No thanks. I don't think even I'd be able to follow that." I glanced over my shoulder at my friends. Both of them were watching me intently. I had guy friends in high school but no boyfriend so any new guy that had met they considered my boyfriend if I hadn't told them otherwise. That was really annoying for me. I turned back to Ratch. "So what's been going on?"

He shrugged. "Nothing much. The Cons' haven't made any new attempts to attack that energy plant but Prime thinks they will soon, so we're staying for awhile longer."

"Just let me know if I can help you guys with anything. Okay?"

He put a hand on my shoulder. "Alright, but if they do attack don't get in the middle of it like before. Promise?"

"I promise," I said. "But you better get back, I don't want you getting into trouble."

His hand tightened its grip. "Alright, just be careful." He turned and walked across the street where I saw his actual body sitting at the corner. He opened the door to make it look like the hologram was getting inside, closed it with a loud slam, and then drove off with the holo-form waving out the window. I walked back over to the others. Tara and Jen were still smiling even when I glared at them one last time before sitting back down to finish eating.

"So . . . who was that?" Jen asked. She leaned forward eager to hear the details.

I smirked. "None of your business." I said finally, taking a drink of water. Thankfully those two took it as a sign that I was not going to tell them anymore and sat back to eat.

**Ratchet**

I drove back to the factory base, going in through the back door that I had found that led straight into my temporary med bay. I hadn't told Angel that I purposely snuck out of the base just to go see her. That I don't think she needed to know, she was worried enough as it is with making sure I didn't get into trouble with Optimus, as well as making sure her friends were safe if the Decepticons made another attack on the city.

I transformed and quietly closed the door behind me. I went back to straightening a few of my tools that I had left lying on the make-shift desk Wheeljack had constructed for me out of some scrap metal we had found in one of the other abandoned factories.

CRASH!

_Oh now what?_ I thought heading out the door to inspect whatever damage had been done.

The door to the med bay was open already, that was odd but apparently no one had noticed my disappearance. We had found in the second room another door that led to the factory next door. That place also had three rooms with the middle being the main one with the computer that Wheeljack had designed and dubbed the 'Traveling Teletran' . . . do not ask. The third room across from the med bay was the conference room.

Prowl came running out of the door with Jazz right behind him. Prowl glanced at me. I shrugged and then headed over to the last room which was used for training.

Prowl stopped next to me in the doorway. Sideswipe was lying on the floor with a thick slab of steel on his back. Hound, Sunstreaker, and Cliffjumper each had grabbed a side of the slab and were attempting to life it when Prowl and I entered and came over to help. The slab rose easily with our help and we leaned it against the wall. Sunstreaker helped his brother up, checking to make sure he wasn't damaged or anything. Good thing that he wasn't, I really was in NO mood to start doing repair jobs on either of the twins.

"What happened 'Sides?" Prowl asked.

The red twin shrugged. "I'm not sure. We were just training. Sunstreaker threw me into the wall and then next thing I know that slab was on top of me. Boy that thing was heavy."

Jazz went over to the wall checking to see if anymore slabs were going to come loose and fall. "That looks like it was the only one Prowl. I don't think we'll have trouble with the others."

I sighed. Angel hadn't told be of the possibility of some slabs being loose, but then again she had only shown me that one factory.

"Well at least you're not damaged." I said. Then I turned around and headed back to the med bay. I passed Wheeljack and Prime on my way; I nodded to both then turned the corner. I heard Prowl telling Prime what had happened and that Jazz made sure that nothing else would happen. These factories were build really strong which was surprising since Angel had told me that it had be about six years since anything had occupied the space.

Picking up some tools that had fallen off the desk I started putting them away again. I was so absorbed in the work that I didn't hear Prowl come into the room.

"Ratch?"

I jumped turning toward him. "Prowl, sorry I didn't hear you come in."

He came forward putting a hand on my shoulder. "You okay? You haven't said a word for awhile."

I glanced at him having turned back to the desk. "Yeah I'm fine. Just uneasy about no activity I guess. But I think everyone could use the rest for now."

He smiled. "True. But I'm still not sure you're okay."

I turned and saw concern wavering in his eyes. I put a hand over his. "I'm fine Prowl, trust me I would tell you if I wasn't."

"Alright. But don't over work yourself cleaning up." I nodded.

"Hey Prowl!" a voice called.

Both of us turned to see Bumblebee come into the room. To my eyes Prowl visibly relaxed when he saw Bumblebee. He had expected Prime or Jazz coming to get him to go back to the conference room. Usually my friend didn't visibly let anyone see him so at ease but there were times, like now, that it just did not matter to him. Bumblebee had asked to come along on this mission instead of staying back at the Ark. He nodded to me, giving a quick smile and turned back to Prowl.

"Spike and Carly want to know if we can go into the city and look around. Is that okay Prowl?"

"I don't think . . . " Prowl started.

I interrupted him. "Oh come on Prowl. Let them go and explore. The last time we were able to see another city was when we were in New York. Besides I would think Bumblebee would bring Spike and Carly back here if the Decepticons showed up."

Prowl mock glared at me even though he was smiling. He knew I was right. "Okay," he said to Bee. "But come right back if the Cons decide to show up."

Bumblebee nodded eagerly and ran out of the door.

Prowl turned back to me. "I wish you wouldn't do that."

"What?" I asked innocently. He swatted me lightly on the arm.

"You know, persuading me to let them go. You always seem to make me do that."

I grinned. "Why do you think Bumblebee waited until you were in here to ask?"

Prowl tilted his head for a second before realization came into his eyes. He growled in his throat and I had to duck to dodge the data pad he threw at me. I laughed and threw it back. This started a throwing war between the two of us. Not that I minded, it felt good just to relax and have a little fun.

**Angel**

Tara, Jen, and I finished at Mrs. Johnson's soon after lunch and we decided to head into town after that. We drove down along down the hill in my Ford towards the small shopping center at the base. The two of them danced in circles around me from their seats continuously asking about Ratchet. But I kept quiet. I knew this would annoy them both beyond all reason, but I do believe I am allowed to have some secrets from the two of them. I parked my car parallel to the sidewalk and behind this adorable little yellow VW bug.

We walked into the mini-mart first to get some things for me at home. Jen and T complained but I told them that if they were going to continue to come over and eat my food then they had to help me get more for the house.

Tara immediately ran down the chips aisle and Jen headed towards the drinks. While I headed down to where the fruits and milk were filling up a small basket with apples, strawberries, oranges, and some white 2% milk and some chocolate milk. I walked down to the back aisle which was filled with meats and vegetables along with cheese and bread.

I turned towards some noise seeing Tara and Jen had found each other and were running along the ends of the aisles. They couldn't cross to my side due to the center freezers with turkey, chicken, and frozen dinners. The only opening was in front of me. I watched them then looked to where they were heading both of them had their eyes on me. I saw a blonde haired girl about my age walking next to a brown haired boy coming down the same way towards my two friends.

"Watch . . . " I started. Too late.

CRAAASHHHH!

All four of them fell onto the floor. Thankfully everything that both parties had was still unopened otherwise there would have been more of a mess. I put down the chop meat I had been looking at and ran over to them.

"Are you guys alright?" I asked. Starting to pick things up along with Jen who had recovered from the shock quicker than the others. The blonde girl shook her head and then leaned forward to help. Her brown haired companion started to do the same thing, all the while shooting daggers at Tara and Jen.

"You two alright?" I asked again. The girl turned to me.

"Yes. We're fine." She replied.

"No we're not," the boy growled. "You two should watch where you're going!"

Tara and Jen at that time had the right mind to look embarrassed and ashamed.

"Sorry." Tara said. "We were just in a hurry."

"Yeah a little too much of a hurry." The boy hissed.

The girl put a hand on his shoulder. "Now really Spike. It was just an honest accident."

I smiled a bit then helped her to her feet. The boy followed suit with their groceries while Tara and Jen picked up theirs' . . . well ours'. I handed the girl a few of her things that I had picked up.

"Oh, thank you."

"You two new to town? I haven't seen you around before." I asked.

She nodded. "Yes we are actually. My name's Carly and the grouch over here is Spike." She held out a hand.

"I'm Angel and the two runners here are my best friends Tara and Jennifer." I answered shaking her hand then pointing to each one in turn. All of us then walked down the nearest aisle to get to the checkout counters.

"You two here visiting with friends?" Tara asked.

Carly nodded. "Yep. We're here for just a little while then we have to go back home."

The checkout lines were small. Yippee! Usually around this time a day on the weekend the store was packed. But then again it wasn't a game weekend or anything special. Tara and Jen pitched in for the groceries for my house. Then we walked out with Carly and Spike to the cars. They went to the VW bug while the three of us loaded the bags into the trunk of my car. We were all just about to part ways when the explosion hit.

This one was a lot stronger than the last one that had hit. The ground actually shook knocking Tara off her feet and sending me and Jen grabbing onto the car for support. I could see Carly and Spike grabbing onto the bug as some planes flew overhead. I looked up at them and froze. Their coloring was the same as the ones that attacked Ratchet. The Decepticons had come back just like he said. Tara got up and slammed the trunk shut.

"What the heck was hit!" she yelled a bit hysterical. Not that I blamed her. I would be too if this hadn't happened to me before. I saw smoke rising up, being blown in the wind to the north.

"I think it came from the power plant!" I said.

Spike whirled to face me. "How do you know that?"

"Well uh . . . ," I trailed off. I couldn't tell him about before. "For one, clueless, I live here! The plant is in that general direction if you go down to the end of the street and turn right. The smoke is being blown from that way!"

Carly said something to Spike that I couldn't hear as another explosion hit. This one throwing all of us into the air. Jen screamed holding onto the car for dear life.

_One of the gas tanks must have exploded!_ I thought. That thought even horrified me. If a fire had started down there with those six large gas filled tanks . . . oh I didn't even want to think about it.

I heard sirens in the distance. Though I couldn't tell if it belonged to a fire truck or ambulance. Wait what if that was . . . "DUCK!" Spike yelled at the three of us.

We did as we were told. Tara and Jen were huddled together next to me. I looked up to see a big red, white, and black bird with the purple Decepticon symbol on its wings flying above us. Mostly circling over Spike and Carly. Then the yellow VW transformed. Okay, I have to be honest, I was shocked. I hadn't seen another Transformer before Ratchet.

"Go away Laserbeak! You birdbrain go away!" the Autobot yelled. He fired at the bird as it flew up and down. The bird fired its own laser back. Carly and Spike ducked behind him and then ran over to where my friends and I were crouching behind my car.

A crash sounded behind us.

Spike, Carly and I whirled around to find another Decepticon standing there. He was about human height colored a silver-gray with white markings on its chest. The arms then changed into pile drivers and slammed into the ground. From the pile drivers came two large cracks, meeting in front of the Decepticon as they split the earth in half and right through the concrete. Spike grabbed Tara and Jen while Carly grabbed my arm and had us run to the other side of the street.

The small Con started towards us, his arms now back to normal when a white and black sports car literally ran him over. Then it turned around and transformed knocking the small Con back on the ground where he had started to get up.

"Jazz!" Spike yelled. The second Autobot looked up at us. "Get out of here Spike, all of you. RUN!"

Well you didn't have to tell the five of us twice. We sprinted up the sidewalk leading towards my house up the hill. I glanced at Carly and Spike as both of them were having trouble catching up to me, Tara and Jen. I hadn't even noticed that we had gotten ahead of them. I ran back and held onto Carly's arm while Tara grabbed Spike's and we helped them run up the steep incline. We stopped around the corner at the front of the first house next to the hill to catch our breath. I glanced over at Carly and saw that the bird, Laserbeak, had followed us.

"Watch it!" I yelled and ran over to her. I grabbed her around the stomach and dodged the bird's swooping attack by throwing us both onto the house's lawn. Tara, Jen and Spike followed my example getting out of the bird's way. He lifted back up into the air and spun around to face us.

"What is he doing?" I asked Carly.

"Watching us. Do you know of anywhere to run?" she asked.

"There is a small shelter up the road here, from when bombs fell back in World War II. Some of the people still use it because of the Decepticons."

She nodded. "Okay on three. Ready?" she asked. We all nodded.

"Okay one . . . two . . . THREE!" she shouted. All of us shot up from the ground and crazily ran towards the bird, ducking him as he made another pass and sprinted towards the direction of the shelter. As we neared my house Tara and Jen both made a dash for the front door.

"You crazy? Don't separate!" I yelled following them to get them back on the right path.

"Angel! Watch out!" Spike shouted.

I turned towards Spike but did not get the chance to answer him. I suddenly felt my arms being lifted from just below my shoulders in a sort of vice grip but still loose enough for me to move my arm. Then my feet left the ground as the bird lifted me off of the ground till I was about twenty feet in the air.

I screamed.

I heard Spike yell, "Angel!" I turned my head as far as I could. Spike was running after me with Carly, and my two friends not far behind him. I struggled in Laserbeak's grip as he flew out towards the lake. I turned my head the other way and could see the power plant with the Autobot and Decepticon planes were locked in a giant dogfight.

A bright blue laser flew past me from the ground. I could hear the one called Jazz yelling. "Let her go Laserbeak!"

The bird blatantly ignored him, flying out further till I was a good quarter of a mile away from the cliffside and beach that was just below it that Tara and Jen had shown to me when I first moved up to Duluth. I looked in front of me. I saw two large robots coming towards the bird. One of them was dark blue with a visor over his eyes and some kind of cannon on one shoulder with a gold and black colored version of Laserbeak flying beside him. The other was silver with the biggest cannon I had ever seen on his right arm. I could see the violet symbol on his chest. Oh god, I've got to get out of here.

I started to struggle again. As I did I could feel my arms start to slip out of my jacket sleeves. Apparently Laserbeak didn't have as tight a grip on me as he thought. My jacket was old, it had been something my mom had gotten at Goodwill a few years back when she wanted to get me a cheap coat. I looked down and could see the top of the lake water about forty feet below me.

Laserbeak had stopped flying and was now hovering in one place. Okay, two choices ran through my head . . . one get captured by the Decepticons or two slip my arms out of the jacket and plummet into the icy cold water below me. I chose the icy cold water. I shifted a bit in the jacket and felt my arms start to slip. Then my arms started to go faster.

I dropped.

Wind rushed past me as I plummeted towards the water. My arms flailed slightly, spinning in small circles. Like that would help me. I took a deep breath and then felt my body hit it water.

**Tara**

I ran next to Spike and Carly as we chased Laserbeak as far as we could. My heart was pounding in my ears from fright and surprised as I watched Angel get carried away. We stopped at the guard rail that stood at the top of the cliffside. Jennifer stood beside me catching her breath but watching Angel with the same fear that I felt. I heard pounding footsteps behind me and then saw a laser fly towards where Angel was. It missed. Then I heard the one robot, Jazz, yell "Let her go Laserbeak!"

I looked up at him. "Hey watch where you're aiming! You almost hit my friend!"

He looked down at me. "Sorry miss, I thought that would have scared that birdbrain enough to let your friend go." He said with a Cajun accent.

I smiled. "I know. I'm just scared."

He nodded understanding, as I turned back to watch. I could see Angel struggling against the bird's grip but she stopped seeing something in the distance in front of her. I could hear a soft, "oh no" come from the other Autobot Bumblebee as he saw something. I couldn't tell what exactly, but it didn't sound good.

"What is she doing?" Jen gasped.

I quickly looked back up at Angel and could see that she was hanging slightly lower that before. But then my heart flew into my mouth as I saw her suddenly plummet away from Laserbeak and land in the water. Still several meters from shore.

**Angel**

The water felt like a thousand pins were getting plunged into my skin at once as the water closed over my head. I floated underwater for a minute and then turned towards the shore and started swimming. My clothes felt like ten pound weights on my as they were now completely soaked. My feet just felt like dead weight as I kicked the water with as much force as I could. When I couldn't bear the feeling of fire in my lungs I cautiously went to the surface lifting my eyes out first to make sure it was safe.

I could see the blue Decepticon looking back and forth over the surface of the water. He wasn't looking at me next so I quickly took another deep breath of air and plunged back beneath the surface, swimming now as fast as I could towards the beach. I heard a yell of fury and rage up above me, which was magnified by the water in my ears, coming from the direction behind me. Jazz must have hit one of the Decepticons. I rose to the surface and took one last breath, I could see that the beach wasn't that far so I could probably swim the rest in one breath.

I heard a splash not far from me. I turned in the water thinking it was Laserbeak but it was only a fish. I sighed inwardly and continued swimming. A shadow then flew over me, a big one. I went a little deeper into the water. The shadow went a little farther over the water's surface but then turned and flew back the other way at a fast speed. I reached out a hand to feel in front of me and touched the rock that marked the cliff beneath the beach. You see the cliffside did a little zigzag pattern going down, making the flat beach, and then dropping again into the depths of the lake.

Pushing my feet against the rock I flew up to the surface breaking the water line gasping for air. I shook my head to get the water out of my ears and then swam the little bit of space left to the beach. I tried to climb out of the water but my arms were too numb to let me, they shook uncontrollably every time I tried.

"Alia!" I heard to voices shout above me.

I looked up and saw Tara and Jennifer looking down from the cliff top down at me. Tara held up her hand with a 'stay there' motion. Then she and Jen ran away from the others towards the stairs that led down to the beach. Tara flung open the gate and literally flew down the stairs, not that Jen was much better. They ran from the base of the stairs over to me and helped pull me out of the water. Tara then gripped me tightly around the shoulders, while Jen latched onto my waist as I sat in the sand.

"Thank god!" Tara gasped, she was still trying to catch her breath after all. "You're alright!"

Jen didn't say anything to me to express her relief, she just tightened her grip on me.

I looked at them both. "Yes I'm fine. Now could you two please help me up so we can get back to my house."

Both of them pulled back a little. They seemed shocked at the suggestion at first and looked at each other for one of their silent conversations. Apparently they both decided it would be better for me to rest at the house then stay out in the open because they each grabbed an arm and slowly walked with me towards and up the stairs.

**Jazz**

I watched as the two girls helped their friend to get up the stairs back to street level from the beach. All of us on the cliffside had froze when we saw her drop away from Laserbeak's grip. I looked down at Spike and Carly. Carly was holding onto the rail her shoulders relaxed at the relief she felt. Spike just had a hand on her shoulder, but I could tell on his face he was just as relieved. I turned around as I heard someone approach. Optimus, Prowl and Ratchet drove towards us and transformed.

"Jazz, what happened?" Prime asked.

**Angel**

Carly and Spike came over to us as we finally reached the top of the stairs. I leaned over and put a hand on the rail determined to get the feeling back into my legs. I looked towards where Jazz and Bumblebee had been standing having joined my friends, Carly, and Spike soon after Laserbeak had taken off with me. Now standing with him were three others.

One I recognized immediately as Ratchet. One of the others was white and black like Jazz but he had door wings coming out of his back and a red chevron on his forehead. The last one who towered over the rest was colored a deep red, silver, and blue on his feet. His chest had two glass panels on it like the front of a semi cab. I shivered, this was Optimus Prime. I had seen what he looked like before from pictures on the net and the television but this was so much better than any picture.

"You sure you're alright?" Carly asked as I let go of the railing to test my strength. "You gave us all quite a scare."

I smiled at her. "Yeah sorry about that. But how else was I going to escape?"

She shrugged. "We would have found a way. Come on." She motioned for us to follow her, which we did.

As we got closer I could hear Jazz finishing up his explanation to the three newcomers, about what had happened to me. I had to lean against Tara again a bit for my legs felt like they were going to give out. I looked up at Ratchet and saw that he was watching me. Thankfully he was standing behind Prime so he didn't see Ratchet nod to me. His eyes were filled with concern having just heard all about my ordeal. I nodded to him and mouthed, 'I'm alright, don't worry'. He nodded again but there was still some disbelief in his eyes.

"The question now though is. Did Laserbeak mistake her for Carly or did he grab her on purpose?" I heard Optimus ask out loud for everyone to hear.

I looked back at the others as the second black and white answered. "No way to know for sure right now Prime. The one good thing is that the Decepticons didn't get the plant's energy."

The last thing that I heard of the conversation as Tara and Jen led me away back to my house was the answer to that question.

"True Prowl. But that situation raises even more questions about what just occurred here." Optimus replied gravely.

**Author's Note:** Sorry about no note on the last chapter! Well chapter two is done! Yippee! Thank you for reading! Please R&R, I am open to anything you have to say. I will try to update as soon as I have a chapter finished. But please don't kill me if I don't update for awhile, for I am balancing this with the homework from my classes. Thank you!


	3. Chapter 3

Hey there! Sorry about not updating for awhile! Hope you enjoy the chapter!

**Rating: T**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any characters relating to Transformers, even though I own the DVDs. I only own my OCs that are in the story.

_TTTTTTTTTTT_ change in the scene (if there is one)

**Name:** change of the pov

_Italics_ telepathy, "_italics_" talking on a phone

The next few days for me were really a drag. Not only having to recover from my ordeal with the Decepticons and the lake waters. But also from the constant hovering that both Tara and Jen were giving me. They had decided to stay at my house until they were convinced that I was alright. I kept telling them that I was but they didn't believe me as usual.

Basically I was forced to stay in my room with one of them standing constant guard outside my door to make sure I didn't try to sneak out. The one thing that I was glad of was that they still let me continue to get some writing done on my laptop. Copying what I had written before from my notebooks. I was what some called a 'freelance author'. Meaning that I can write and finish a book without having to worry about any deadlines. That worked for me considering what I was going through now more than ever.

I set my laptop aside and got up slowly. I walked over to my windows stretching my legs. Opening one of them I stepped outside and sat in one of my deck chairs. A soft breeze blew in from the lake. I tightened the blanket I had around my shoulders. I don't think I was going to swim in the lake for awhile, all things considered.

The Decepticons hadn't come back after the incident. At least for the time being. I had seen the Autobots Prowl and Jazz heading down the hill towards town on separate occasions to patrol. Though the question that Optimus Prime had said the other day still loomed in my mind. _Did _Laserbeak mistake me for Carly or was a grabbed on _purpose_? And what about the power plant, had that been just a distraction to get _me_?

Those I think were the million dollar questions that everyone seemed to be asking. I heard a knock on my door and leaving the glass window/door open to let some air in I went back over to my bed crawling under the blanket and then grabbing my laptop. The door opened and Tara, the current guard, poked her head in.

"Hey. Feeling better?"

I looked at her. My eyes clearly showing that I was bored. "What do you think…why exactly do you ask?" I said tilting my head to one side.

Tara stepped into the room. Following her was Jennifer with some food on a tray. Then came Carly.

Surprise must have hit my face because she held her hands up. "Don't worry. They know where I am. I just came to see how you were recovering after what happened."

"You sure?" I asked.

She shifted back and forth on her feet. "… Well not exactly _everyone_. The one who does know is here with me."

I looked at her questioningly and then looked up at the door. There, trying to slightly hide behind the door, was Ratchet. I could see him glaring at Carly for telling me. I don't think he expected her to.

"Ratch? What are you doing here? I thought you weren't going to tell anybody?" I asked barraging him with questions. He stepped out from behind the door and walked over to sit on my right side of the bed.

He at least had the decencency to look sheepish. "Sorry but I was sort of pressured." He said glancing at Carly.

"I didn't pressure you!" Carly shot back. "You were just basically pacing back and forth in the med bay like a robot chicken with its head cut off since you were so worried about her!"

"Carly…" Ratch growled.

I laughed causing both of them to give me weird looks. "Sorry! But I didn't think I could ever picture you like that Ratch!" I gasped, grabbing my sides from laughing so hard.

Ratchet smiled, playfully batting me over the head. "Well excuse me. But really are you trying to give me a heart attack from worry? I thought something bad had happened to you."

"I know, I'm sorry. But there wasn't any other way that I could get out of Laserbeak's grip. Besides checking on me, what did you come here to tell me about?" I asked.

That got me shocked looks out of them. They hadn't said they wanted to talk to me about something but I guess I'm just that good at reading people.

Carly and Ratchet exchanged a glance and she motioned for him to go ahead and explain. Ratchet looked back at me.

"We haven't picked up anything about another attack. But we have been getting readings from something in the city that spikes on the energy chart. We believe that this energy might just be the cause of all this chaos." Ratchet explained.

Carly stopped him for a second. "Problem is though. None of us, not even Teletran can get a fix on this source so…"

"If the Decepticons have picked up this signal they'll be back again. But what's that got to do with me?" I finished. Tara and Jen came over and stood on either side of me against the wall. Both were just as curious as I was.

Ratchet paused for a second before continuing. "Optimus had Wheeljack watching the chart while we fought the Cons at the power plant. But he only noticed a spike in the energy right when you had gotten picked up by Laserbeak."

"WHAT?!" Tara, Jen and I exclaimed at the same time.

"What is that supposed to mean? That Angel somehow possesses this energy source?" Jennifer asked.

Carly shrugged. "We don't know. But before we left I heard Optimus telling Prowl that he wanted him to watch you just for the reason that either you possess the source or you know where it is."

I exchanged a glance with my friends. "He's not out there right now is he?"

Ratchet shook his head. "No, Prowl begins the surveillance tonight after dark. But he'll be watching you from now on. So…"

"You can't see me like before can you?" I said.

He sighed. "No. That would let Prime know that I knew you before this. I'm still unsure about letting him know that I broke orders."

I smiled. "I know. But if you don't tell him he's going to find out sooner or later. Possibly during another attack or some other dire situation. Then how will you explain it to him?"

He shrugged. "Let me worry about that when it happens. And to answer your question from before only Carly knows about that situation. She won't tell them."

I looked over at Carly. She nodded her head at me confirming that. I could tell in my gut that I could trust her when I needed to. She was truly worried about what had happened to me. But now I had the answers to my questions about what happened with Laserbeak.

The Decepticons had used the plant as a distraction to grab me if they thought I knew where this energy was. But even I was totally confused on that fact. I didn't really know about any large source of powerful energy except from the power plant and the fuel that the ships used.

"Is there anything else I should know about this energy in case I do find it before either side does?" I asked.

Ratch nodded. "Yes. On the sensors the energy reads like it is from Cybertron itself. Yes Cybertron." He said as surprised looks crossed all of our faces. "It's powerful. About as strong as the energy that the crystal inside the Matrix of Leadership that Optimus holds possesses. In legend on our home world there are three ancient items that possess that sort of power. The Matrix, of course, another is called the Prism of Ancients." He stopped.

"Go on Ratch, what's the last one?" I prodded. Excitement burning inside me. I had heard of the Matrix but to find that there were two other items just as powerful if not more so was amazing.

"The last one was lost shortly before we left for Earth. It was called the Cyber Crystal. A powerful item said to have been made from a small sliver of the Matrix's crystal itself. The power of that item was so great that for many years no one could possess it." Ratchet explained.

"The only way that the crystal could be used by anyone was after a special competition was held to see who had the skills in order to use the crystal correctly. That person was to be named the Ul tou-el Kystel, the Guardian of the Cyber Crystal because to hold that power was both an honor and a curse. The Ul tou-el was the right hand advisor to the Autobot's leader but was constantly in battle fighting off people who wanted to steal the crystal from them."

The four of us girls were silent for a few minutes. I didn't know that there was that kind of turmoil even before the Great War had even started. Talk about having a hard but honorable life if you were the one who possessed the Crystal.

"So you guys think that this crystal is somewhere here in Duluth?" Tara asked.

"That or somewhere close. That's about all we can tell at this time."

_Oh great_, I thought. _I swear if I have to take any more swan dives into the lake before the Autobots find this thing, I'm gonna go crazy_.

I did want to help Ratch but I don't think I could without causing worry for him and my friends.

"You said it was destroyed. But if that was the case, why is it here on Earth?" Jen asked.

Ratchet shrugged. "We don't understand this very well either. From the energy readings it looks like the real thing but there is also the possibility that it is just a cheap imitation or another source of energy entirely that is just giving off the same readings."

"Wheeljack thinks that it is just a different source doesn't he?" I asked slowly.

Carly nodded. "Optimus does too. But I think they are still holding onto the hope that it could be the actual crystal."

That ended the conversation right there as Ratchet's communicator chirped to life as one of the other Autobots asked him where he was. He got up and answered, motioning Carly to follow him.

Ratchet and Carly were glad to see that I was feeling better and surprisingly Tara let me escort them to the front door before they left. I told them that I would keep an eye out for this "Crystal" that was possibly here somewhere in the city.

"Hey, I have a suggestion." Jen said suddenly.

The three of us stopped at the door and turned back to face my friends. Jen had an impish little grin on her face. Uh oh.

"Since we have some quiet now. Why don't you guys come to the concert tonight? Just to relax."

"Concert?" Carly and Ratchet chorused.

"Yeah down at the fairgrounds on the southeast part of the city. There's a large open field there with the outdoor stage already set up. Everyone in town is going to be there! And guess what, cause I know that she's up to it, Angel is singing there tonight." Jen finished.

"Jennifer!" I hissed. I hated when she told people about my singing. I only sang at the charity concert's that Duluth held a couple time a year, usually during the changing of seasons. I had forgotten all about it until this morning when the director had contacted me. I had told him that I would still be there, my voice was fine, it was just my body that needed to recover. I told him that I had had a slight 'accident' with a hang glider that Tara owned.

Carly glanced at me. "You sing?"

"Uh…" I stuttered.

"Yes she does! Her voice is to die for!" Tara added.

I glared daggers at the two of them. Both T and Jen knew what they were doing but I guess they had overheard my conversation that morning.

"Really, well it would give us a chance to relax." Ratchet said smiling.

I glared at him. "All right but I won't tell you which one I am in the list, there a three other people. You'll just have to guess which one I am. Deal?"

Carly and Ratch smiled. "Deal!" they said.

"Alright then, we'll see you guys later. Carly why don't you and Spike meet Tara and Jen at the top of the center bleachers, they are the best seats in the house and once everyone's gone you and the other's Ratch can transform to see over the bleachers. It would be kind of boring just listening to the music on the ground." I said.

They both nodded and then left. I turned back towards Tara and Jen mock glaring at them and then went upstairs to choose and outfit for later. Majority of the people in town didn't know that the person in the concerts was me because I went under a different name. My stage name was Lady Star, don't ask my mom came up with it but it stuck and people liked the name so I kept it.

As I pulled out the jeans, shirt, and jacket I would wear tonight, Tara came in and handed me my waist length fire-red wig that I wore when singing. I took it thanking her but let her know that I would kill both her and Jen if they pulled a stunt like that again. She just smiled and then went to grab her own kit of make-up. Singing was the only time that I wore the stuff cause as my mom told me I was one of the few people in the world that didn't really need to wear it to look pretty.

_TTTTTTTTTTTTTT_

**Ratchet**

We drove through what was basically deserted streets. Angel's friend Jennifer had been right, everyone in the city was going to the concert. Carly, Spike, and Bumblebee had gone on ahead of us. When Carly and I had gotten back to the base she had told Spike about the concert. Prowl agreed that it would give us a chance to relax and Prime even agreed! Jazz, obviously, jumped at the chance to listen to some music in a concert setting and actually being there instead of having Blaster record and play it later.

Though I knew while there we would be serving two purposes. We would be there to relax but just in case the Decepticons tried something while the concert was going on we'd be ready for them. I was worried about Angel being there if the Cons did attack but in my gut I didn't think they would try it. We had hurt many of them pretty badly during their last attack on the city. But those thoughts were banished from my mind when we started to come up on the outdoor concert area.

**Carly**

Spike and I walked through the crowds of the concert. It was packed, good thing we had told Bumblebee to wait until we found Tara and Jennifer before climbing up the stands to sit with us. I had been to concert's before with Spike back in Oregon but this had to have been the most packed one I had ever seen.

People were going this way and that. Some already finding spots on the permanently built silver bleachers. The while area was built like a stadium except it had no walls or roof. It was a nice night to have it too. There was no haze from the bright lights as the sky had no clouds and you could see the stars very clearly.

I followed Spike as we climbed the stairs that went between the left and center sections of bleachers. Tara had called me shortly before the concert started telling us to come later on for the last two performances. She didn't say which one was Angel that would be calling off the deal. I looked around over people's heads trying to find them.

"Hey Carly!" a voice called. I turned and looked up above me. Tara was standing on the very top bleacher waving at us. Jennifer was sitting next to her on her right with a bag of popcorn. I waved back and climbed up to meet them. I sat down next to Tara with Spike on my left.

"Sorry. We couldn't see you with all the people."

Jen leaned forward. "We told you it would be packed. There were less people before. Most everyone just comes to see the last two performances they don't even bother with the first two but there was enough people not to make the first two made."

"Where are the others?" Tara asked, just as Bumblebee came over the back railing. "Hey! Be careful!"

He sat down next to Spike. "Well excuse me. How else was I going to get up here without people noticing?"

Tara just shrugged. "The others coming?"

I looked back at her, "Yeah. They'll be here soon." I said just as the curtains started to pull back to clear the stage for the singer.

**Angel**

I looked out from the side of the stage listening to the performance. I saw T and Jen where they said they'd be. Along with Carly, Spike and then Bumblebee.

Oh great, I thought. Did Tara do that on purpose? She knew that the song I usually opened up with was titled that. I laughed silently, I would have given anything to see the look on Bumblebee's face when I started singing.

The song that my predecessor was singing finished. She took a bow and then left the stage as the curtain closed. People scrambled around moving the props in order to make the platforms for my songs. I saw the other two singers from before look over and gave me a thumbs up to wish me good luck. I nodded back and then took my place on the center of the three staircases. I turned my back to the crowd and made sure that my ear microphone was on. Then took on my starting position as the music started and the curtain opened.

**Jazz**

We arrived at the concert shortly after the second to last singer had started performing. The bleachers were high enough in the air so that we could look over without being noticed. But then again everyone was focused on the singer dancing around in the bright lights.

I stood behind where I could see Bumblebee and two of our human friends sitting with the girls from the other day. The singer on now was pretty good, though in my opinion the song could have been performed a little better than that. She had written a fast-paced song that she couldn't keep up with that well. That was surprising. After the song was finished she left the stage and the curtain closed.

Everyone sat back in their seats to wait until the stage personnel were ready for the next singer to start performing. I looked to either side of me and could tell that everyone else was enjoying this music. So was I of course. I wanted to dance but I was afraid I'd accidentally knock something over or step on a car and that would not be good.

"_And now ladies and gentlemen! The one you've all been waiting for! May I proudly introduce, Lady Star!_" the announcer cried over the loudspeakers.

The people in the crowd went up in a roar of cheers. She must be good to get the crowd to do this, I thought. Some of them started chanting as the curtain slowly opened. Then the lights came on and landed on the singer. She had red hair tied back in a pony-tail and was wearing a light-blue jacket with a red, silver, and blue star on the back. Her jeans covered the boots that she wore on her feet. Then she started to sing and the crowd quieted a little as the music started.

"_Ohhhhhhhhh_," she started. Her voice went to different pitches as she turned around and did the same lyric again. The beat picked up speed as she walked down the stairs and then she jumped the last five before the song really started. The next thing that we all heard was, "_Sweet little Bumblebee…_"

**Jennifer**

I put my popcorn next to my feet before Angel started to sing to whistle like some of the crowd were doing. Tara glared at me and covered her right ear with her hand, playfully punching me in the arm. She hated when I whistled. Then the song started.

I looked over at Carly and Spike. Spike's foot was taping to the beat and Carly's head was going up and down in a nodding motion. Both of them had heard this song before.

The I looked over at Bumblebee and just started laughing my head off. Tara gave me a look like, 'what's the matter with you?' before she too leaned forward to look and started laughing too.

The little golden robot had a face that I can only describe in one word…PRICELESS! What I wouldn't have given to have brought a camera with me. I looked behind me at the other Autobots. They had looks just as good. I would have to tell Carly to explain to them about the song. Though I could see that at least two of them were enjoying the song. One of them was Jazz from the other day. The other one was a little taller than him. His red and black coloring standing out from the others. He was doing a little dance along with Jazz.

I smiled and then turned back to watch as Angel finished the song. Then the music started to play again.

"_Let's sing a song for the brokenhearted…_"

**Prowl**

I looked over a Jazz as another song started. I had to smile as I saw him try to contain himself from breaking out into a dance. He just looked over at me and gave a thumbs up. He really liked this singer, better than the last one. And I did have to admit that she was. Her voice hit every note right on key during the songs.

She was the best singer I had ever heard. I was confused about the first song for a bit but I believe that Spike or Carly would tell us about it later. I looked over a Ratchet. He was watching the singer with interest. He had said that he was trying to guess which one of the singer's was a friend of Carly's.

I leaned over to him. "So do you know which one yet?"

He shook his head. "No idea. I'll just ask her later." He replied before turning back to the song. The singer before her had done three songs that was the limit for the concert. I was curious to see which song she would choose.

The music stopped again ending the second song and then starting the third.

"_I've been searching for a man, all across the land…_"

**Angel**

"_Where's my Samurai!_"

I stopped to catch my breath in the dance pose I had ended in. the crowd went into a very loud standing ovation. I smiled and bowed to them. Waving I saw my friends and the Autobots in and behind the center section. Tara was cheering, clapping really hard. Only to stop and punch Jen in the arm when she whistled.

I waved and bowed again and then walked off the stage. I heard the announcer telling everyone that that concluded the concert and thanking everyone for coming out this evening. Walking through the crowd in the back I made my way over to the back door to get to my motorcycle. I gave my microphone to the tech guy first then walked out.

I climbed onto my bike, put on my helmet and then took some back roads to get to my house before Tara and Jennifer got there. I knew they'd be awhile with the crowd so that would give me a chance to get changed out of these clothes and get the wig and make-up off. As I drove past the parking lot I saw that the Autobots had already changed back to their alternate modes and were waiting for some of the crowd to disperse before leaving. Maybe I should have let Carly warn them about the crowd, whoops.

Pulling into the driveway I put my bike back into the garage. Then closed the door and entered my house though the side door. I went upstairs and threw the wig onto the bed and then took off my jacket throwing it in the same place.

I went into the bathroom and washed all the make-up off of my face. I was glad Tara hadn't pressured me to put on eyeliner. I hated that stuff beyond all reason and only wore it when it was absolutely necessary. I put on one of my baggy shirts and some sweatpants and headed downstairs with my singing clothes and wig to put them back into the closet behind the case of china.

I had just finished when I heard the lock turning on my door and my friends' voices shortly afterwards. Going into the living room I dodged Jen as she ran at me to hug me leaning up against the back of the couch. But I couldn't dodge Tara who came charging at me after she closed the door. She grabbed me around the waist and sent us over the back of the couch and onto the cushions with her laughing and me gasping for breath after having the wind knocked out of me.

"You were awesome!" Tara cried. "That has got to be one of your best performances! You totally had the crowd tonight!"

"Yeah!" Jen added coming to sit by us.

"Thanks you two. Are Carly and Spike with you or…" I asked.

Tara shook her head. "No, they went back with the Autobots. You should have seen Bumblebee's face with that first song you sang! But Carly said she would explain it to him later."

"I could see that Jazz really liked it too. But I don't think Ratchet or Carly could figure out which of the last two performers was you." Jen said.

I laughed. "Alright. Go get something to drink and you can tell me about the rest okay?"

Both of them nodded getting up and heading for the kitchen. I laid there on the couch for a few more minutes with my legs draped over the back from where I had landed when Tara pounced on me. Sighing I flipped over and started to head towards the kitchen when a knock rang out from the door.

I stopped and walked over. Seeing no one out of the little peep-hole I had installed I opened the door. Some leaves blew by with the wind but no one was standing there. I turned to go back in when a flash of white and red on my front step caught my eye. I knelt down and picked the letter and rose up looking back and forth again for the person who might have left it.

Leaning against the doorjamb I turned the letter over. It said my name…well my singing name on it. I turned it over again and seeing nothing really suspicious on it at all I opened it. The letter came out easily. I unfolded it from the three-fold that it was in and flipped it over to start to read thinking it was a fan letter.

"_Dear Lady Star,_

_You sang like an angel tonight. I am very proud to hear how far your voice has progressed since the last time I was able to see you. I hope that I will be able to see you some time while I am in town looking to complete a mission that I have been on for several years. I'll see you when I can my little bijou._

_Forever yours, David._"

My heart went into my mouth. David was here?! Oh no…

**Author's Note:** Thanks for reading! Please R&R! ALL the rights to the actual three songs used in this chapter rightfully belong to DDR for 'Bumble Bee' and 'Butterfly' and to Bon Jovi for 'It's my life'. Oh and bijou means 'jewel' in French. Will update soon! Ja ne!


	4. Chapter 4

Hey there! Sorry about not updating for awhile! Hope you enjoy the chapter!

**Rating: T**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any characters relating to Transformers, even though I own the DVDs. I only own my OCs that are in the story.

_TTTTTTTTTTT_ change in the scene (if there is one)

**Name:** change of the pov

'_Italics'_ telepathy, '_italics_' talking on a phone

I sat at my round table in the kitchen while both Tara and Jen read the letter that I had received just a few moments ago. I had thought at first that it was fan mail. But no…I had never expected to receive a letter from this person ever again since I left Indiana to come and live up here near the lake. Soon after I had moved up here I found that Tara and Jen had also having fallen in love with this place on a trip that we had taken a year before college Graduation four years ago.

Tara put the letter down in the middle of the table. Her hands were folded in front of her as she thought. Jen sat back in her chair to wait, in her opinion, Tara took too long to think over things. But then again Tara was an inventor of sorts though she worked in animation as her main job, designing animated and CGI characters for movies.

She looked over at me. "You are positive that this is the same David, Angel?"

I nodded lifting my head from where it had been resting on my folded arms. "Yes Tara. Who else do we know that ever called me bijou?"

"She does have a point T," Jen cut in.

Tara sighed. "I know that, Jen. I know."

I looked between the two of them. David was someone that the three of us knew back when we were living in Indiana with our families. All three of us had actually gone to the same college. That's where we met David and his little group of friends/bodyguards. We had first met him at one of the fountains at the college.

He had come over with his little followers. To me, Tara, and Jen he had looked like a mother duck parading around campus with her babies in tow considering as those guys constantly followed David everywhere. He bowed to us and then handed me a beautiful red rose. He had put it behind my right ear while Tara and Jen started giggling.

Sure I'll admit I thought it was very sweet and cute of him. But it really was not my thing then. I was honestly not interested in any guy or even wanting a boyfriend at all while I was concentrating on my studies to get my degrees in writing and was also working my first two books. When I told him so he seemed to be okay with that. Though he never did really leave me alone after that either.

Wherever I went he seemed not that far behind. All three of us thought it was cute at first but after the first couple of times even Tara and Jen were getting annoyed with him.

We were polite to him though when he sat down for lunch with us a few times. Talking to him was easy. He told us that his father was in charge of his own company dealing with the gasoline and chemical business. The plant wasn't that far from the campus and he said that he'd show us one day if we wanted to. He insisted that he wanted us to and looking at me he said that he wanted to have the chance to introduce his future bride to his dad.

Talk about a hopeless romantic. Honestly I thought he was joking, no he was serious. I avoided him after that for the rest of college. If we saw him coming we would just go somewhere else so we didn't have to talk to him. That seemed to make him even more persistent in his goal to basically woo me into agreeing to marry him.

During senior year at the college was when the accident happened that changed him completely from the handsome, and sweet boy we had met before. Into a cold, heartless man that could think of nothing but revenge.

A month before graduation the plant where his father was on business was attacked by the Decepticons. David had been there cause he was helping his dad move some very explosive and dangerous chemicals to another plant out of state. When the Autobots had come to try and stop the Decepticons … the chemicals caught fire by accident from one of the blasts. The place where David and his dad were was knocked into when Megatron and Optimus were fighting one another.

This with the explosions from the gas and chemicals in the same area caused the collapse of the building right where David was standing.

His dad, noticing the ceiling coming in, had run over and shoved David out of the way. When David had tried to save him…he was dead. The ceiling had crushed him and…well let's just say he didn't look the same when the paramedics dug him out.

Shortly after that, amidst the shattered concrete and melted metal, the firefighters had found an undamaged safe that contained the Last Will and Testament of David's father. That piece of paper declared David the head of the company and the one who would receive a majority of his father's fortune while the rest went to charity.

After that David had a small ceremony held to bury his father with only a few relatives in attendance as his father was buried on the hill above the factory where his father had stood, overlooking the spot where to begin his dream.

When David had finally come back to school he told us what had happened at the graduation ceremony. But he only told me about what he planned to do. He blamed both factions of the robot warriors for his father's death, even though I knew that the fire and exploding gas and other chemicals had really caused it, but David would not be swayed from his decision. Besides keeping the family business alive, he planned to do some designing of his own of powerful weapons that he could use against both factions and destroy them.

I was still in Indiana when I saw him again in August of that same year. He had come to invite me to see the first test of his new weaponry at his secret factory up north. I told him that I had no desire to see what terrible things he had designed. But he made me go along; he wanted to show me what I was getting into if I was to be his wife.

Okay I couldn't get out of it then, if he told my parents about that there would be no way I could get out of it. After arriving he took me to the testing room. He was only testing it on regular machinery but still…it was not pretty at all. I didn't even want to think about what that kind of power would do to any of them be they Autobot or Decepticon. Not even the Cons were that bad to deserve a fate like that of these every day machines.

Soon after that I left. I had told my family that I would possibly move to Duluth and I made that a reality. Moving up here was what I wanted and David never knew about it and I had told my parents to never tell him if he called to find where I was. When they had asked why I just said that I didn't want to speak to him. Okay so I lied and said that he was an old boyfriend of Jen's who had hurt her really bad and seemed to now have a thing for me and I didn't want to speak to him because of what he did to my friend.

Thankfully my parents bought that story and I moved up here and have been living here in peace and quiet ever since. I just could not figure out how he had found me. With all the alias' that I had with my author name and singing name the only other ones that knew my real, well basically my nickname, were my friends and the people in town. Tara must have been thinking along the same lines cause she said.

"How in all the world did he find you? Us even!" she asked no one in particular.

"I don't know," I said quietly. "I guess he must have just heard my singer name somewhere cause he knew that I sang and figured that one singer had to be me."

"Yeah, that was all in good fun until he found you. He probably recognized your voice or something." Jen said.

Tara growled. "What the hell Jen?! He never even heard Angel sing before!"

Jen slouched lower in her seat. "Sorry. He must have asked someone in town. Or he looked through all the new singers that had been coming out and just narrowed it down or something."

"Enough you two!" I said. I had to intervene before this grew to an all out cat fight. "I don't care how he found me Tara. The reality is that he did and I'm more worried about him finding Ratchet and the others more than I am about anything that he might do to me!" I sat down again leaning my chair on two legs, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Sorry. I know Angel. Even though we don't know them as well we're worried too. But I'm not sure we'll be able to help you."

That made me look up. "What are you talking about?"

They exchanged a glance. "We both just received calls from our parents yesterday saying that they want us both to come down and visit for a week. It's not like we want to leave but…"

I smiled. "I know. But you both haven't been down there for over a year, I made up for that by going to the reunion last week. Just go, I'll figure something out to do. Don't worry."

Tara gave me her 'yeah right' look. "Sure. We always worry about you Alia. Now more than ever with the situation. Just promise me one thing."

"What?" I was still surprised that she called me by my real name. She and Jen both rarely did that anymore.

"Please do not do anything stupid or something that would endanger your life. I don't think I could handle it if something happened to you, my best friend in the whole world."

"Hey she's mine too!" Jen said giving Tara a light shove.

I sighed, here they go again. I got up and walked around the table putting an arm around each of their shoulders. "Alright I promise. You two just go, have fun, and most importantly stay OUT of trouble."

"Okay!" they chorused.

I shook my head. "Don't do that. It's creepy."

They laughed and then went upstairs to find there things for one last sleepover at my house before they left. I folded the letter again and put it in a box on top of the dresser next to the china display case. Then I went back into the kitchen and threw the rose into the trash before going upstairs to sleep on what exactly I was going to do.

_TTTTTTTTTTTTTT_

I sat on my balcony the next morning watching the sun come up. I had just gotten back from seeing Tara and Jen drive off. They were sharing a car to save on gas. I just hope they didn't kill each other along the way. I sat in one of my deck chairs typing away on my laptop and having my little portable camera film the sunrise. This was one of the best times of the year. Watching the sun come up after a clear night because there was just the right amount of mist above the lake to reflect the light into a beautiful rainbow of color.

I finally sat back in my chair. There was no way I could fully concentrate on my writing with everything that was going on. The problem with David was the first thing that kept popping up in my mind. I wasn't sure how I was going to keep him from finding out where the Autobots were. I just hoped that he was only passing through and would be gone by the next day to continue on for a business trip meeting or something.

This morning I had seen some of the Autobots leaving the town. The news on my radio had said that the Decepticons were going after some mine over in Wisconsin. At least they weren't attacking the city anymore. That was another problem in my mind as well. Finding out where exactly this energy source that everyone thought that I had or knew about actually was.

I looked out from my balcony hearing a car driving down the road. It was a limousine, large and black driving down the road very slowly. The car finally stopped at the house next to mine but I slouched in my chair anyway. The door at the back of the limousine opened and out stepped a young man. He looked to be about the same age as me. He had short black hair neatly parted and glinted in the morning light from some kind of gel he had put in it to keep it that way. His skin was pale, apparently he didn't see much sunlight, looking almost like a vampire. Eerie.

His jacket, pants, shoes, and shirt that went with his suit were all black as well. Including the sunglasses over his eyes. Jeez was this guy going to a funeral or just a business director who liked the color black far too much for my taste. The only splash of color on the guy was the dark, almost blood red tie around his neck. He looked between the house he was standing in front of and mine. Mostly he was glancing at the mailboxes then looked down at a piece of paper or something else that was in his hand.

He finally decided to walk over to my house after putting the thing into his jacket pocket, but stopped just close enough that I could still see him from the balcony. He then took off his sunglasses revealing a pair of steel gray eyes. I nearly choked.

David.

"Angel? Angel is that you up there?" he called.

I ignored him hoping that if I didn't answer he would go away believing he had the wrong house. But no he decided in that thick skull of his to call even louder.

"Angel?"

I got up and walked over to the edge of the balcony. "Shut up you idiot! Do you want to wake up the whole neighborhood with your shouting?" I hissed.

He smiled. "Well hello. I thought that was you. Are you going to come down?"

I glared at him. "On the one condition that you keep quiet."

He nodded. I sighed and turned away grabbing my laptop and notebooks, putting them on the bed before going downstairs after slipping on my light blue denim jacket that had a butterfly on the pocket that matched the design on my jeans. And walked out to stand on my front sidewalk after closing and locking my front door.

"Aren't you a little old for that kind of fashion Angel?" he asked softly.

"Mind your own business." I snapped and stood in front of my locked door.

David came over to me. "You don't trust me do you?"

"No. What do you want?" I demanded.

He laughed a little. "Ahh, Angel. Always right to the point. That's what I've always liked about you." He stepped a little closer. I backed up a step.

He laughed again, putting his hands in his pockets. "You can probably guess why I'm here. Can't you?"

I shrugged crossing my arms. "I'm guessing you heard about the Decepticon attacks and that the Autobots came to stop it. But what has that got to do with me?"

"I would believe, with your…knowing of the community. You would also possibly know if the Autobots are still here or not?" he said.

"Even if I did. Why would I tell you?" I shot back. I crossed my arms tighter determined not to let him see that I was shaking from not just nervousness but fear.

"Because I trust you not to keep secrets from me, my little bijou." He said, running a finger along my jaw. "You have to understand that what I'm doing is for the good of all humans. To get rid of those accursed robots forever so no one else has to go through what I went through."

I snorted, slapping his hand away. "Yeah right. You just want them destroyed to enact your own revenge on them David. You're just as selfish as you were back then. Getting rid of them won't bring your father back."

"No," he said. "But it will make me feel better." Then he proceeded to rush forward pinning me against my front door. Grabbing my wrists in his hands he pinned them at my sides.

"And to make sure that happens. You my dear, are going to help me."

I glared at him, struggling in his grip. I could have broken out if I wanted to, that was easy, but I wanted to hear what he had to say to me. "Why in all hell would I do that?"

He leaned forward and whispered into my ear. "Because, sweetling, if you don't…you're going to see firsthand what one of those weapons of mine will do those two best friends of yours."

My eyes widened. Oh jeez, he wouldn't…no wait he would. Oh god. He had leaned back and must have seen the look on my face since he smiled. It wasn't a warm smile no. This one was icy cold because in his mind he knew that he had me where he wanted me, doing exactly what he ordered or else.

"Now…are you going to help me? Or am I going to have to ask around to find where your friends went?"

I didn't want to. But I didn't have anything else that I could do so I just nodded.

"That's my good girl. This is the number you can reach me at with any information you hear." He slipped the number into the pocket of my jacket. Then he ran his hand against my cheek. "Until later then my little bijou." He then proceeded to walk back to his limousine, get in and drive off.

I just stood there in shock for a moment before sinking down to sit in front of my door wrapping my arms around me in a vain attempt to stop my body from shaking.

_TTTTTTTTTTTT_

I sat outside for about ten minutes before I thought I had enough strength to get up and walk into the house. Stepping into the kitchen I collapsed into the chair I had sat in last night. I reached into my pocket and pulled out his number he had given me. Thinking quickly I got up from the chair, grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and wrote down the number again. Then I took the card and ran it through the shredder in the kitchen.

Knowing David he had put some sort of tracking device small enough to fit on the card. He obviously believed that I would be too freaked out to remember it was in my pocket and then he could track me anywhere I went with a touch of a button. I double checked my pockets, in both my jacket and my jeans to make sure that there was nothing else he had slipped on me. Finding nothing I put my jacket on the back of the chair next to me and then sat down again. Then I pulled out something that I knew had been on me.

I reached up to the left breast pocket of my shirt and removed the recorder that I had placed there before walking out to met him. The recording light was still on and I shut it off by pressing a button. I didn't trust David for a second and I thought I could use this conversation for something later on. Pulling out my phone I texted both Jen and Tara asking how they were doing and, most importantly for me, I doubled checked how long they would be there. They replied almost immediately saying that it was a week and that they were both doing fine. They asked why and I just said that I was curious, I said I was fine and that I'd talk to them later.

I sat in silence at the table for a little longer, running thoughts in my mind about what I was going to do. I couldn't go right to the Autobots now. Knowing David he probably had someone watching the house at the moment just to see if I went anywhere.

Walking over to the front window, just left of the door, I glanced outside. Yep, there he was, just sitting in a black van with tinted windows. I had seen it before when David had taken me to the plant to give me the weapons demonstration. He said that the vans were used for transport, yeah right, these were used for surveillance on anyone who might give him information to help him complete his task.

Feeling restless I grabbed my jacket and went through the house making sure all my locks were tight and my security system was up and running before going out and locking the front door behind me. I needed a walk. I went down the sidewalk knowing that the van was rolling along behind me. Boy he was persistent.

To look inconspicuous though I turned and walked down the hill towards the general store. I needed some things anyway. I went in bought myself an orange juice and sat outside on a bench to drink it. I saw the van again on the other side of the street ever vigilant of what I was doing. Laughed silently I leaned back on the bench. The poor guy was more than likely squirming in his seat for me to do something. But I just sat there watching cars go by and saying 'hello' to people coming in and out of the store.

Taking a sip of my juice I noticed, not too far away from me in the parking lot, was a black and white police car. Oh shoot. I had forgotten about Prowl having been asked to watch me also. From the looks of him, he seemed to have been sitting in the parking lot for awhile, I hadn't seen him around when David had come to the house. I was about to get up and continue on my walk when Prowl decided to drive over to me.

Even before he pulled up I noticed the hologram sitting in the driver's seat just as solid as Ratchet's had been the days he came to talk to me. He motioned for me to walk over. I did leaning down to talk to him through the passenger side window. He didn't say anything for a few minutes, just looked around before looking over a me.

"You okay?"

I raised an eyebrow. Didn't expect that. "Why do you ask."

He shrugged. "You just seem on edge. It doesn't have something to do with earlier this morning does it?"

I jumped. So he did see that! "No not really. Just a friend visiting and asking me about something."

"Looked to be pretty important to me. Though you did seem scared about something."

I shook my head. "Look. You see that van over there?" he nodded. "He asked one of his goons to watch me for awhile. I would love to talk to you about what my friend said but I can't because he just might be listening. Nothing is bothering me for right now, but take this anyway. It will explain some things about why he is here though it may be a little vague."

I laid the tape recorder on Prowl's passenger seat with the tape from this morning before backing up to stand on the sidewalk. I had another one at home but this was the only way I could give them some warning without letting David know I was in contact with one of the Autobots. Prowl looked at me questioningly for a second, then nodded and drove off. I watched him go and then started my slow walk back home. Hopefully the other Autobots could start to trust me.

**Prowl**

I wasn't quite sure what to make of the little machine sitting on one of my seats after my little conversation. I hadn't expected to talk to the girl, but she looked like she was in some kind of serious trouble. Prime had asked me to watch the girl, Angel, for a bit to see if she could lead us to the energy source. I hadn't seen anything that would confirm that theory but nothing to disprove it either.

I was watching her house this morning when that black limousine had pulled up. Watching the conversation that progressed. I hadn't heard all of it but had seen enough from the girl's reaction to the things he was saying to know that it wasn't good. The black van had appeared shortly after she had gone back into the house. And had followed her as she walked from her house to the store.

Now I was driving back to the headquarters. Whatever was on this thing, she hadn't been able to tell me due to the van but it seemed to be important. I pulled up next to the closed door and tapped it once with my door letting Spike and Carly know I was back. The garage opened shortly after, allowing me to pull in.

"Hey Prowl. Your back early." Carly said.

"Yeah I know. Can you grab that thing on my seat please? I don't want to damage it." I said.

"Sure." Carly grabbed it and gave it the once over as I transformed, stretching a bit from being in vehicle mode for a day and a half. "What is it?"

"Not sure. Looks to be a recorder of some sort." I replied. "I got it from the girl, Angel."

Both of them glanced at me. "Why would she give this to you?" Carly asked.

I shrugged. "Don't know she wouldn't tell me what was on it. She couldn't talk because someone else has started to watch her. She had an argument with him earlier this morning." I took the recorder from Carly and walked into the adjoining room.

"Him?" both Spike and Carly asked, following me. I walked into the med bay where Wheeljack and Ratchet were working on Sideswipe again. He and a few others had just, to my knowledge, gotten back from their mission in Wisconsin.

"Wheeljack?"

He looked up at me from where he was working. Ratchet closed a piece of plating and allowed Sides to sit up on the berth. Both watching me as well.

"What?" 'Jack asked.

"Does that computer of yours have something that can play this?" I handed him the recorder.

"Sure it does. It is designed that way." He said getting up and walking out of the room. I followed and went over to the conference room where Prime was sitting with Ironhide.

"Hey Prowl!" Ironhide said. I nodded a greeting.

"Anything to report Prowl?"

I nodded to Optimus. "Yeah, there's something that you need to listen too. My uh…charge gave it to me."

Optimus nodded and got up with Ironhide following. We walked into the other room where Wheeljack had rigged up the recorder so we could listen to what was on it. He looked at all of us first and then pressed a button. The whole conversation between Angel and that man from before sounded from the computer console. The conversation ended a few minutes later.

Everyone in the room was silent. Some of that conversation was not something we expected to hear. Most in the room had shocked looks on their faces. Ratchet and Carly more than anyone. Optimus turned to me.

"What do you make of this Prowl?"

"Well, it does seem like something we need to keep an eye out for."

He nodded. "True but be wary of the girl too."

"What?! Why?" Carly yelled looking at us both.

"Because, this could all be a plot between them both. Even her meeting you and Spike, Carly. That could all have been part of their plan."

Carly looked down at her feet. "But she didn't seem like…"

"We know that Carly. But I agree with Prime on this one. It's just something you'll have to accept." Iron hide said. She nodded, she knew he was right.

"Anyway. Watch her but keep out of sight Prowl. We'll switch the duty from time to time between you, Jazz, and Smokescreen. That's all we can do for now." Optimus said.

**Author's Note:** Thanks for reading! Please R&R! I take both comments and any criticism that you may have. Thank you! Ja ne!


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: ** sorry about the long wait everyone. I've had a big case of writer's block lately. I hope to have chapter six up soon after this one is posted. Hopefully you will not have to wait this long again but I apologize in advance if this happens. I take both comments and criticism in reviews. Please R&R!! Ja ne!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any characters relating to Transformers, even though I own the DVDs. I only own my OCs that are in the story.

**Carly**

I sat with my arms wrapped around my knees. I could not believe what I had just heard. They thought that meeting Angel had been part of some plan that she had with the guy on the tape? I could not…no, I thought shaking my head, I would not believe it! There is no possible way that she would do something like that.

Though, under Optimus' orders Prowl had gone out shortly after that to continue watching her.

Standing up I headed towards the door. I just had to talk to Angel about what was going on. Until I heard about this… this… theory about her being true from her own mouth, there was no way I was going to sit around and do nothing.

"Carly!"

I turned to see Spike coming towards me. Smiling I waited as he caught his breath, apparently having run from the next room. "What?"

He stood up straight. "You have to stay here. Prowl's orders." He added seeing the shocked look on my face.

"Why?!"

"He doesn't want you getting hurt if what they believe about Angel is true. He doesn't want you hurt because she was your friend."

I snorted, arms ridged at my sides. "She still is my friend unless she herself tells me otherwise!" I cried and stormed off towards the med bay. Jeez, even Prowl didn't trust me now because of my knowing her and being close to Angel and her friends. Even though both Spike and I had only met them a few days ago.

I walked into the temporary med bay. Wheeljack sat in one corner fixing one of Rachet's instruments. Ratchet was sitting at a makeshift table reading some data pads that Jazz had given him earlier. He looked up at me and smiled as I walked over.

"Hey." He said. He brought down his hand to let me climb up before putting me onto the table.

"Bored?" I asked as I got down and sat next to the pile of data that he was going through.

"Yeah. Prowl tell you to say here?" Ratchet said. He glanced over at me for a second before returning back to read the data pad.

I nodded as I shifted and hugged my knees as I leaned against the data pile. "I just don't understand why they are being so jumpy about Angel and this whole situation."

Ratchet shrugged. "I don't like it anymore than you do Carly, but there isn't much that we can do from this end right now."

I sighed. "I know. I just hope she's alright…"

**Angel**

I closed the door and locked it and pulled the curtain before collapsing onto the couch. I don't think I could take this anymore. Having to sidestep my friends and not see them just because I had to dodge that bastard David left and right everyday was tearing me apart.

What was worse, if anything could be, was that in my mind I had the possibility blaring as loud as a siren, that the Autobots would get the wrong idea about the tape. That thought had sunk in since I hadn't seen anyone come down the hill to pull in front of my house across the street except for that black van.

Though little did I know that soon after I closed the curtain a certain police car did pull around the corner to view my house.

I threw an arm over my eyes. Since I couldn't really do anything else, some sleep would do me good. I had been restless the past few days and had only gotten possibly six hours of sleep total counting the last three days. Tara had called just after Prowl had left with the tape. I told her everything was fine but in my heart I knew she didn't believe a word of it. She usually never did unless I told her face to face, but that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. Both she and Jen still had four more days down in Indy.

Turning off my cell I laid it down on the coffee table before turning so my back faced the windows. I shut my eyes to at least get some sleep, even though I knew it was going to be anything but peaceful… that is I would have if at that moment I hadn't heard the large crash from upstairs. I bolted upright, my left arm coming down on the back of the couch. I sat quietly for a moment before hearing the sound again, though this time it was more of a shifting and scraping sound.

Getting off the couch, I opened the closet door and grabbed the metal bat I had in there. I crept up the stairs, trying to keep calm but in my condition right then, that was kind of hard to do. The noise was coming from the door right across from the one that led into my bedroom. I could see some shadows moving about due to the fading sunlight but not enough to tell exactly how many were in there. As I got closer the sounds of movement seemed to stop.

Raising the bat I reached for the door handle but someone or something beat me to it, cause the next thing I knew was that I was on my back, pinned to the floor by something large and gold that resembled a lion. One of its front paws was holding down my wrist of the hand that had the bat in it while the other was right below my left arm.

I just stared into its eyes as it growled, giving me the once over it seemed. A second figure than appeared on my right. This one was a miniature robot, from what I could judge from my position he was about an inch shorter than me.

"Are you alright? Steeljaw back off!" he said.

The gold lion moved off me, backing up to block the doorway he had come from. I sat up slowly as the other bot came over to me.

"You okay?"

I looked up at him. "Besides getting pounced on by a huge lion? I guess so." I said, standing up.

"I'm sorry about that. We didn't know anyone was here in the house."

"Who are you and what are you doing here anyway?" I asked.

"Well, my name's Rewind and his is Steeljaw," Rewind said, pointing to the lion.

I put my hands on my hips. "Well? Can you answer my other question at least?"

He shifted from one foot to the other for a few moments.

'_Just tell her already!_'

I grabbed the bat again as I heard another voice. I looked between the two of them. There didn't seem to be another with them. I would have noticed a third shadow, even under the door. My eyes went back to Rewind when he finally spoke.

"Steeljaw and I were following some energy readings from some sort of weapon and traced it to here. You wouldn't know anything about it would you?"

"Weapon? No I don't… wait. Follow me."

I motioned for them to follow me downstairs. I placed the bat on top of the coffee table and then walked to one side of the couch I had been laying on and pushed it to one side, revealing a wooden trap door.

"What's that?"

"Someplace that even my friends don't know about. Wait up here."

**Rewind**

I watched the girl descend down the ladder into some sort of basement and out of sight. I looked over at Steeljaw as he walked around the bottom floor of the house, being careful not to go near the window. Prowl would have killed us if he had found out we were having any kind of contact with a human.

He had explained at the makeshift headquarters that we were to stay away from a certain human that both Spike and Carly had met. But I didn't think that this human was her.

The radar had picked up the strange energy readings ever since we had arrived here. It was Blaster's job to find out where the readings were coming from and Steeljaw and I had decided to find out on our own. Both Blaster and Prowl had suspected that the energy came from a Cybertronian object that was lost to us just before we came to Earth but neither of them could be sure until the object was located.

Steeljaw lifted his head from where he had been inspecting the bat the girl had been carrying and I watched as the she reappeared from the basement. She was carrying something in her arms that was wrapped in cloth. She closed the trap door and then sat down on the floor on top of it and slowly unwrapped the object.

It was a gun of sorts but not one that I had seen any human possess before. It was large and looked like something out of one of Sideswipe's Sci-fi movies. It was silver in color with clear blue glass on the top that held some sort of glowing rocks. There was on the end just above the trigger and revolver-like loader that had darts in it instead of bullets and looked to be aimed so that the dart went through the area where there rock liquid was.

"Is this was you were getting the readings from?" she asked.

**Angel**

I watched Rewind as he pulled out some sort of instrument and went over the weapon carefully as Steeljaw came over and inspected it for himself. Both working their way around every nook and cranny that could be found within the weapon's constructed form.

I had forgotten that I had the gun in the house. It was something of David's I had stolen from him three years ago when I had secretly gone back and snuck into the plant to destroy it after making copies of the data that was held in the computers. I had gotten the data and sabotaged the computers with a virus and then stolen this on my way out so that at least I was a working weapon to go with.

Having the weapon and the data had allowed me to find different antidotes as they were to the different chemicals and energy that David's weapons used. I had shelves of vials filled with the antidotes downstairs where the weapon was. Just in case I ever needed them to help out the Autobots if David had ever gone through with his plans to destroy them.

Which was apparently the case now.

'_That's it!_'

I looked up as the voice startled me out of my thoughts. Rewind had put away his instrument and was now kneeling next to the gun while Steeljaw had backed away a few paces and stared at it menacingly as if he wanted to destroy it right here and now.

"Rewind?"

"Yeah?" he replied vaguely as he continued to inspect the weapon.

I sighed. "Is there anyone else with you two?"

He looked up, surprised. "No. Why?"

I rubbed the back of my head. "I keep hearing someone's voice."

"Hmmm, well, I can tell you that there's no one else here. As to the voice… I'm not sure what to tell you."

'_Will you just ask here where that blasted thing came from already!_'

I crossed my arms. "Okay that's it!! Whoever it is that is talking had better appear!"

Both of them just looked at each other, unsure of what to make of my ranting it seemed. I couldn't hear the question that Rewind asked Steeljaw but when he roared back, and I could hear it again.

'_I don't know. Ask her._'

My shocked eyes landed on Steeljaw. "What did you just say?"

Rewind looked at me, confusion in his eyes. "Steeljaw didn't say anything. He just roars, he is a lion after all."

"But… but I heard him Rewind! He did say something!!" I exclaimed.

The lion turned his eyes on me. '_You can understand me?_'

"Yes."

'_This is unusual. Only _Ramhorn _could understand me before. Not even _Blaster_ could decipher what I was telling him, he just had good guesses._'

"Well. You and Ramhorn are animals right? That's probably why."

"This is interesting."

Both Steeljaw and I looked over at Rewind. He was sitting next to the gun but his eyes were focused on the both of us.

"Even I can't understand him, as I'm sure he's told you. The only question is _**how**_ can _**you**_ understand him?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. All I know is that I hear him as clear as day. I don't really know how to explain it." I pointed at the gun. "Is that the source that you were looking for?"

"Huh? Oh, yes!" Rewind said, turning his attention back to the gun. "This is the source. Could you tell me what exactly it is Miss… uh…"

"Angel. My name's Angel." I replied.

"Ah, Angel … ANGEL?!?!" Rewind exclaimed.

"Yeah, why?"

"Oh man, Prowl is going to have my head if he finds out we were here."

I looked at him questioningly until he finally decided to give me an answer.

He sighed. "Prowl told us to stay away from the girl on the tape which he said was you. It's because Optimus suspects that you and the man on the tape are in league with each other."

**Rewind**

She scoffed at that. But her face then became downcast.

"I kind of figured that would happen. I didn't expect any of you to trust me just from that. But believe me Rewind," she looked up at me, right in the eyes. "Please believe me when I say that I'm not in league with him. I'm against him and everything that he plans to do. I swore it back when I saw what he was doing and I swear it now, I will destroy him or die trying before he gets to any of you."

I searched her face for anything that could give me a clue that she was lying.

I found nothing of the sort.

Her face was set and determined. Her emerald eyes fiercely bright with well kept rage but also intelligence as she thought of ways at how she would keep her vow. I had never seen such determination in a human, except for Spike when he chose to fight with us when Optimus Prime had been hurt by that explosion when he has saved Chase. Other than that, there was no equal.

I nodded. "I believe your word. I see nothing that would lead me to believe otherwise Angel."

She let out the breath she had been holding and smiled. "I'm glad to hear that."

Steeljaw roared in agreement.

She laughed. "You too huh? Good to know that you both believe me."

I smiled behind my mask. "Good. Can you tell me a little more about this now?"

She nodded. "Yes. This gun is, well, was one of David's pride and joys before I stole it from him. It's a prototype and since I destroyed all the data that he had on making it after making some copies for myself to find any antidotes to his weapons, he did not have the resources to make another thankfully."

"What about other weapons in his arsenal?"

She frowned. "There are others, some even more powerful than this."

"You went back again didn't you?"

She nodded again. "I've been able to keep tabs on him until a year ago when he had moved out of the country to some remote island. I have intelligence on his new weapons that I got from a colleague of mine that was in David's inner circle before he had to disappear when David got to close to finding out that he was spying for me. He's safe, he sends me messages now and then without telling me his location just in case."

"Okay. Then what would this weapon do if he had used it?"

She shuddered, her eyes closed as she thought of a way to tell me. "It's better if I show you." She said finally.

She got up and reached down into the trap door again and grabbed a small piece of machinery. An RC car to be exact. She placed it on a metal tray and then picked up the weapon from where it was on the floor. Motioning for us to step back, she armed and aimed it at the car. Then she fired it. A dart, coated in some blue-gray liquid landed on the car, injecting it with something.

All I can say is that after a few seconds … there was nothing much left of the car.

Steeljaw and I stared at the wreckage. The electrical parts were all melted goop that was mixed in with the melted paint pool that covered the tray. The only things left intact were the little rubber wheels.

**Angel**

I watched their shocked expressions as they stared at the car. Rewind gulped. Steeljaw shuddered.

This was the fate of all the machines that David had tested his weapons on. And those were non-feeling machines.

Rewind looked up at me. "This is what happens to those hit by it?" he asked bleakly.

I nodded solemnly. "Yes. I don't even want to think of what it would do to one of you."

They both nodded in reply.

I disarmed the gun and then picked up the tray and dumped its contents into the trash can. I returned to the living room and wrapped the gun up in cloth again before descending the stairs to put it back on its shelf. Before going back up I grabbed different darts filled with antidote that would go with the different weapons David had designed, just in case.

To use one I just had to look at the color markings around the injection point. Each weapon left its own distinct mark and coloring. I had memorized each one so I wouldn't have to look at notes when a crisis came up. There was no telling when the effects would start and I didn't not want to spend time waiting around to find out.

After placing the darts into the case on my belt so that they were easy to reach, I shut off the light and went back up the ladder. After closing the door Rewind helped me put the couch back into place.

Just as I was grabbing both cell phones to strap onto my belt, we heard it.

A loud shout came from outside my house just across the street.

We didn't wait. I grabbed my jacket and threw it on as Rewind and Steeljaw followed me through the front door of the house. We saw Prowl out there, transformed and clutching his leg in pain as he sat on the ground. He winced as another shot of pain went through him.

"Prowl!!" I shouted as we ran over to him.

"What happened?" Rewind asked.

Prowl shook his head. "I… I… don't know. One minute… I was here watching… ugh… watching the house… and then next there's this pain shooting through me. Ugh!!" he grimaced as the pain went through him again.

I went to his leg and immediately spotted the injection point. Energy pistol by the coloring of blue-green around the wound. I opened my case and pulled out the dart that contained a violet colored liquid.

"What are you…?" Prowl started.

"Hold still." I said flatly and put the dart into the wound and injected the antidote.

Prowl cried out at the pain but then was silent, not moving as he tried to figure out through his fogged mind what I had just done.

I looked up at him. "Where did he go Prowl?"

"Huh?"

"Where did David go?"

"He went… oh Primus. He went towards the warehouses!!" Prowl cried, he tried to stand but fell back down again.

I gripped my desert eagle that was also at my hip. "Rewind, can you stay here and watch Prowl?"

He nodded. "Yes! Now go, don't delay any longer, go with her Steeljaw!"

_TTTTTTTTTTTTTTT_

I ran as fast as I could with Steeljaw at my heels through the back alleyways that led to the warehouses. No reason to come up in full view and then be stopped.

'_Can't you go any faster?_'

"What's that supposed to mean?" I shot back.

He growled. '_Never mind, just get on._'

Steeljaw just stopped long enough for me to climb onto his back and then he took off again with my direction to the warehouse. We rounded another corner and came right beside the warehouse itself. Steeljaw stopped and I slipped off his back and walked quietly up to the end of the alleyway. At the end of the alleyway I glanced around the corner.

Just next to the alley on the side opposite the warehouse was David with a gun aimed at… oh god, Bumblebee. I looked farther along and found two of his goons holding Carly and Spike back away from them. David was saying something, but I couldn't hear him.

I kneeled down next to Steeljaw. "You think you could help them? I'll get Bumblebee."

Steeljaw nodded and slinked off into the darkness of the alleyway. I looked towards the slowly setting sun. That should help me if this got ugly. I pulled out my eagle and aimed.

The first shot hit David's hand.

**Carly**

I cursed at myself for not watching where we were going. Spike, Bumblebee and I had gone to the store to get some food but before we left Bee had to transform because of a transmission from Wheeljack. We had gotten back here but before getting to the warehouse we were jumped as a black van swerved in front of us and two men jumped out and forcefully removed me and Spike from Bumblebee.

As Bumblebee transformed to help us, another man appeared and held a gun to his head. Telling Bee to stand down or he would shoot us and be done with it. He had dragged Bee away to speak to him so that Spike and I couldn't hear what was being said. Both of us continuing to struggle against the two creeps that held us back.

I stopped struggling for only a second when I heard that man Angel hated, shout in pain. I saw him drop the gun his was holding and look towards the buildings for where the shot might have come from. He shouted again and clutched his side with his good hand and backed up a step from Bumblebee.

I looked over at Spike. He mouthed 'Angel?'

I shrugged. I couldn't see and the fading light wasn't helping any either.

My eyes glanced towards the alley next to us and I saw a glint of gold. Turning my head just a little more I saw Steeljaw there, creeping towards us. The two men that were holding us hadn't noticed him yet.

**Angel**

To say that David was pissed, would have been an understatement. Honestly I couldn't help but smirk as he tried to find whoever it was that was shooting at him. He had picked up his gun and fired at places where I could have been and heard him grunt in anger at missing his target.

I ran forward out of the alleyway and slammed into him shortly after he had once again aimed the gun at Bumblebee. I knocked him away with my shoulder and landed on my feet spread in front of the little Autobot, my gun still in hand. I looked down and kicked his gun that he dropped towards the alley so he couldn't reach it again.

He stared up at me from where he had fallen in shock at first. But rage quickly replaced that.

"You!" he yelled. "You're helping _them_!" he spat the word.

"Yes," I replied calmly.

"You bitch!" he snarled and charged me.

I easily dodged it and tripped him. As he fell I stole a glance at Bumblebee who had wisely backed away to a safer distance. I also heard some shouts of surprise. Steeljaw had made his presence known.

I suddenly flew backward, gasping as the wind was knocked out of me and I did a backward somersault before landing on my back on the cold pavement.

Groaning I tried to sit up but David was quick as he came at me again. Doesn't he ever give up? He fell slightly forward as he tried to pin me down but my feet connected with his stomach as kicked him over my head. I quickly flipped over and got into a crouch position as I faced him.

"Why do you help them?" he asked, spitting blood. "Why?!"

I glared at him. "Why you ask? I would think you'd know. You thought you'd create an ally by taking me to that plant of yours? Well, guess again. You made a permanent enemy."

He smirked standing and backing up towards the edge of another cliffside that when down into a lake. "Well then, I guess you and I are destined to combat for awhile. Until later then, bijou." Then he jumped.

I ran to the edge and saw him swimming over to a small motor boat. Aiming my gun again I shot the motor just as they started away. _Let him freeze swimming to shore for all I care_, I thought to myself.

I walked back over to the alley where the gun that I had kicked was. I picked it up off the ground and brought it into the sunlight to take a better look at it.

**Carly**

Steeljaw, Spike, and I ran up to Angel. The two men that Steeljaw had attacked had left, well, to be accurate they practically ran after just getting a look at him.

"Angel?"

She looked up, smiling slightly. "You two alright?" she asked, turning her eyes back to the weapon in her hand.

"That's something I should as you. You took quite a beating."

She shrugged. "Yeah, well… when you have a grandfather and a father who've been in the military you get some pretty nice perks I guess. That was easy compared to some other fights I've been in."

I just gaped at her. _Easy_? If _that_ was easy, I'd hate to see what _hard_ was.

"What are you going to do with that?" Spike asked, pointing to the weapon.

As if to answer him, Angel released some of the clasps on the gun and removed the top part that glowed blue and violet. She dropped the rest of the gun on the ground and kneeled next to it, putting the larger end of the piece she was holding onto the ground.

Holding it with one hand, Angel pulled out her own gun and popped one of the bullets out of its place. She split it apart after retrieving it from the ground and poured the gunpowder and other chemicals that were in it into the gun piece.

"What's that do?" Bumblebee asked as the blue and purple color slowly turned black. He had finally decided to come over to us now that the weapon was disabled.

"The inside of the bullets that I use neutralizes the chemical make-up of his destructive poison that he puts in the guns. But if they are shot into a human, well they get a bit of uncomfortable poisoning for a while. Which is by no means fatal and clears up in about four days." She explained simply.

All of us looked up when the sound of some loud footsteps reached our ears as we found Optimus, Jazz, Ratchet, and Ironhide heading towards us.

**Angel**

When I saw the others heading over to us I quickly put the weapon piece down and backed away from it. I shifted nervously on my feet, really wanted to disappear at that moment.

Carly glanced at me. "What is it?" she whispered.

"I shouldn't be here. I'm not supposed to be near you guys remember?"

Carly put a hand on my shoulder. "It'll be okay. I promise."

I nodded slowly. Clasping my hands behind my back I kept my eyes down and waited.

"Are you alright Bumblebee?" I heard Ratchet ask.

"Yes. He didn't shoot me or anything."

"Any idea where he came from Spike?" a strong, deep voice asked.

Spike stepped forward. "Unfortunately no. He just appeared Optimus."

"Any ideas as to where he would go?" a voice with a slight Cajun accent asked.

Carly answered. "Well. I don't know but… I think Angel does. Or might, right Angel?"

I heard a slight intake of air from one of them as they took notice of my standing there. I couldn't blame them for being nervous around me. They hadn't believed the tape and even after the fight I doubted that they would suddenly just trust me. I stepped back a bit more from the dead weapon and sent a hurt look at Carly. I hadn't expected her to ask me.

The silence dragged on so I finally decided to speak and get it over with.

"I don't know where he is now, but I know for a fact that he'll leave town for now and go south somewhere until he can figure out how to get past this new obstacle in his way."

"Obstacle?" I heard Ratchet ask.

I nodded. "Yeah… me."


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note:** Sorry about the wait, been writing this while finishing a paper for a class. I hope to have the next chapter up soon. Thank you for your patience while I'm writing this. Hope to have chapter seven up as soon as I complete it. Please R&R! Comments and criticism are welcome! Ja ne!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any characters relating to Transformers, even though I own the DVDs. I only own my OCs that are in the story.

**Rating:** T

_TTTTTTTTTTTTTT_ = scene change

'_italics_' mental communication

"_italics_" talking on a phone

The silence that followed the statement wasn't one I was not already expecting. David had told me long ago that if anyone, no matter who they were to him, got in his way they would not survive long after betraying him. Which, in some people's minds, meant I only had about another day or so to live and put things in order.

Well, I knew how to disappear thanks to my dad teaching me. He had been with the army for the past ten years.

I watched the faces of the Autobots that were near us as their expressions changed. Each one was different varying from shock and disbelief to anger and concern. That was how most people reacted. Especially Tara and Jen when I had first told them about what David was really planning to do once he had built up his arsenal. That was one of the reasons why I had disappeared from his life before by coming up here. Hopefully then I would be able to stay out of danger and more importantly keep my family who were down in Indiana safe from harm if David ever tried to do anything.

"Angel?"

I looked up at Carly. Her eyes still wide with shock.

"You mean he'd really…"

I nodded. "I've told you that before Carly. He will stop at nothing."

Carly looked back over her shoulder at the Autobots before coming closer to me. "Well, maybe we could help…" she stopped as I held up a hand.

"No Carly. I don't want you guys getting more involved than you already have. It was my decision to go against him. I'll fight the consequences on my own. But please don't do anything rash, this will only end between me and him, in a fight if necessary."

She was about to protest but I shook my head again. I gave her a smile and turned and walked down the road away from the warehouses to head home. If I was to do anything it would have to be soon. I needed to get in touch with Tara and Jen to let them know what was going on and to be careful. It was unlikely that David knew where they were already but it wouldn't hurt just to be sure.

The main thing that ran through my mind was the fact that I had to destroy all evidence that I had been keeping tabs on David's operation and had explicit information about his weapons and where his factory was located and that I had found ways to counter his weapons' effects.

Though before I left I would give a copy of everything to the Autobots with instructions about what the data was and how to produce the antidotes in mass quantity just in case they ran into him on their own terms.

'_Angel please stay._'

My eyes widened as Steeljaw's voice flooded into my mind. I hadn't heard him follow my so I assumed his was still back with the others as they tried to sort things out. Apparently I didn't have to be close to him in order to talk.

I sighed mentally. '_You know I can't and won't Steel._'

'_But why? Why handle this by yourself?_'

Mental shrug. '_I guess it's just how I've always handled things Steel._'

I could feel his disappointment in his voice. '_I suppose so but that doesn't mean you can't change Angel._'

I smiled. '_I know, but I guess I'm not ready to right now._'

With that I broke off communication to him and continued down the road towards home.

I looked up as a car engine rumbled through the air as it drove around the corner. I watched as a black and white police car shot past me towards the warehouses.

Prowl…

I sighed with relief. The antidote I gave him had worked to its full effect, repairing the damage to his leg and internals. I saw him transform at the top of the hill and saw the other black and white, Jazz, say something to him with excitement in his voice. I was not surprised that the others had been worried about Prowl.

From the looks of what I saw by Jazz's reaction was that he and Prowl were really close I had gotten that vibe from them before when I had first seen the two of them after Tara and Jen had helped me up the stairs that led from the little beach after the whole episode with Laserbeak and the Deceptions earlier in the week before David had even decided to make an appearance in our lives here and make it a living hell.

Prowl nodded to him and then turned to talk with Optimus Prime about something I couldn't hear as I was too far away. Something important about what had happened to him as to why he didn't return to the warehouse sooner to report on his findings about what I was doing at home. I turned away from them but stopped as I nearly ran into someone else.

"Rewind." I said. I hadn't noticed him before when Prowl had driven by, I had thought he'd be with the police car instead of walking down the road.

"Hi. I see you saw Prowl."

"Yeah. The antidote worked, better than I hoped. You'd better join them, Steeljaw will be wondering what happened to you."

He looked at me with confusion radiating from his visor. "You're not coming?"

I shook my head and undid the belt I was wearing, rolling it up before I handed it to him. "No I'm not. But take this with you. It contains most of the antidotes to the weapons that David has. I'll be able to bring you the rest later on."

Before he could reply I ran around the corner and down the sidewalk for awhile, stopping past the end of the warehouse that started the line up the hill before passing into the residential area. I kept my eyes on the sidewalk or just about anything else within sight as I tried to hold back tears.

To tell you the truth I really did want to stay and help them. I wanted to be part of their group to help them in their battle at least until David was gone. In my heart and mind though I knew it was not right. Sometimes you had to sacrifice wants and dreams to do something else that was more important. Right now that was getting the information from the basement and giving it to Rewind and the others.

TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

I reached up and wiped the sweat of my forehead with an extra cloth that I had on the table. Taking a step back from my work I made sure that everything was wrapped properly. Several large white packages now littered the top of the table while a couple of boxes lay on the floor with fragile written on the tops. Those contained the vials of antidote that I had already made and stored down here.

I looked up at the basement clock. I had gotten back home shortly after eleven and it was now around three-thirty. Only four and half hours, that was a new packing record for me. I opened the trap door and picked up one of the smaller white packages first and brought it upstairs. I put it down by the side door that lead into the garage before going back down for another one.

I put my cell onto the kitchen table when I came back up the second time. I didn't want it dropping out of my hand when I picked up a box. Tara had called earlier that day after I had gotten home to check up on me. I told her about what had happened and that she and Jen should keep a look out just in case David did figure out where they were.

Tara assured me that she would let Jen know and that the two of them would stick together for the last two days that they were down there to make sure that the other was okay. If anything or anyone appeared she promised to let me know as soon as possible so that I could help them figure out a way to get out of the area safely. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that, I had thought when I hung up.

After bringing up the last box I closed the trap door and pushed the rug over it. Opening the door I started loading my car's trunk with the packages and boxes so that I could drive them up to the warehouse later that night. At least then I was less likely to get caught by Carly or Steeljaw trying to convince me to stay again.

I went upstairs then to shower and put on some fresh clothes. I sat in the warm water, letting it just seep into my skin to relax my muscles. The water felt like it could just wash away the troubles that I had right now. At least for the hour I was in there, I didn't have any troubles. I had at least that time for some peace from the rest of the world even though when I stepped back out to dry off reality had the knack of just falling back into place.

I put on a white spaghetti-strap tank top with a green vest over it and some light colored, blue jeans that had a boot-cut style at the bottom that slipped right over the brown ankle boots that I put on my feet. I put my silver chain-link belt around my waist and grabbed a light jean jacket as I walked out only my balcony. I slipped the jacket over the back of one of the chairs before crossing my arms on the waist-high railing that framed the whole outdoor space.

The evening air was cool at the start of the summer season. It was one time a really enjoyed about living up here is that the summer really did not get too hot as it did back where my parents were in Indy. Not to mention that I had a great view of the sunrises and sunsets, which is what I was watching now.

The red light of the setting sun reflected off the water back up to shine on the houses along the cliffside and the ships that were in the harbor awaiting their turn to leave to make their run to another part of the lakes. I pushed back one of the longer bangs of my golden hair behind my ear as I watched the light design its own little patterns as the water moved about on the surface from either its own current or a passing boat created the waves.

This time of day is something that a truly cherished.

I wasn't aware of it at the time but I was being watched. Not by anybody I don't know about now. Around the corner on the road that led down into town was my 'watcher' for the night. Optimus Prime sat there just watching me as calmly as I watched the sunset. Caught up in his own thoughts about not only the war but what was transpiring here in Duluth.

Prowl would tell me later that Optimus had told him that he wanted to watch over me that night. For what reasons I could not figure out.

I watched the sun a little longer and then grabbed my jacket to go out for a walk. After locking the door I turned north towards the water and started my walk. I headed towards an observation cut out that sat next to the road where travelers could pull over and stretch their legs as they watched the water and the ships come in and out for a time before continuing.

I was about halfway there when I got the feeling that someone was following me but I ignored it, content with enjoying the peace of the evening as much as I could before things when to all hell in a hand basket by tomorrow.

I reached the observation section of the road and walked out to the center of the railing that faced the water, standing on the sidewalk there in case anyone did come along they wouldn't hit me at least. The slight rumble of an engine drifted towards my ears as I heard the one following me approach. I looked back at them before turning away again, I didn't really feel the need to let him know I knew he was there.

I heard another rumble from behind me and then surprisingly, a question.

"What are you doing?"

I turned around and was thankful that the sunlight was shinning on me to hide the slight blush that appeared on my face when I saw it was Optimus Prime. I had admired him from the first moment that the Autobots had appeared on Earth to stop the Decepticons. I wouldn't exactly call it a crush of any sort but to actual see him right there in front of me with no other Autobots around was kind of unnerving.

"I like watching the sunset. I have a good view from home but the best one is from here as the sun doesn't disappear behind anything." I finally replied.

He was silent for a few moments thinking about what I said. It's hard to tell exactly what he was thinking then but I had a pretty good guess that he understood the reasoning I had for coming here.

I looked toward him again. "Why are you here exactly? I thought that Prowl would be watching me again."

I could hear the slight laughter in his voice as he answered. "No. I have come to ask you something."

"What is that exactly?"

"To join us for at least the duration of the time we are here."

I looked away again, turning my back to him as I did. Well, there went that plan of leaving quietly. I sighed, nothing seemed to really want to play in my favor for once.

"Why?" I asked, still facing the water. "Why have me stay with you guys when I could just give you the data and then keep him away until you knew what you were dealing with."

I heard him sigh. "You are the only one who truly knows anything about this person, as Carly pointed out before. You knowledge of what he might do next is invaluable."

I smiled a little at that. "I suppose so." I turned to him again. "But that's not the real question you wanted to ask is it?"

He was silent for a few moments. I kept my face blank but I felt like I had hit the right chord, like a well played symphony and we were all just the keys to make the song flow. A gust of wind blew some strands of hair across my face. I looked up to see some dark clouds rolling in from the west. Rain again, just when I had finally seen a brilliant sunset after a week of the stuff.

Both of us stood silent for some time, lost in our own thoughts about things either related or not related to what was happening. I just hoped the questions didn't lead too much into my past some of the things that had happened then weren't all that pleasant. But I supposed that I would answer them anyway. I always believed that it was better to talk about problems with someone than to keep it buried inside where it would just hurt more.

"Why are you doing this?"

"What?" I asked innocently, turning my eyes away from the clouds. Optimus' words bringing me back to reality.

Even in his vehicle form I could feel his gaze on me. "That's my question… why?"

"Because I want to help, but more importantly I want to protect those close to me. Even though I don't know any of you very well, preventing David from doing what I know he's going to do is important to me." I paused for a moment, letting him take in my words before continuing.

"I know that his malice will not end when he's completed this task. Whatever he wants he'll get by using his weapons. Doesn't matter who he was to kill, hell, he'd even kill the President to rise in power! He's evil. That I've known for years, but until now I've never had the strength to fight him. Now I do, and if I must I'll kill him to put an end to all this."

Optimus was silent while I talked to him, answering his question with the truth. During it I felt some rain starting to fall but I didn't stop. I wouldn't move to get under some shelter so that I could explain it better there. It felt like I was running from the truth about how I felt, what I wanted. By the time I was finished talking the rain was coming down in a light downpour.

Silently cursing the weather gods I started to move towards the shelter where the vending machines and public restrooms were kept in order to get out of it. I heard a click and turned to see that Optimus had opened one of his cab doors. I ran over and climbed in, he shut the door behind me as the rain decided to increase the speed that the water droplets fell down to the earth.

I mumbled my thanks as I wrapped my arms around myself to help suppress a shiver from the cold rain water running down my back. I looked around the cab. I was sitting on plush leather seats that were a bench instead of being separated like in most semi-truck cabs. The steering wheel sat in front of me as did the regular dashboard dials and buttons. In the middle of the dash above the radio was a blanks screen that looked like my old TV set.

My eyes went over the rest of the dash but flipped back to the screen when an image popped up on it.

"Better?" Optimus asked.

"Huh.. oh! Yes, yes thank you." I stammered.

I could hear the smile in his voice. "You're welcome. I'll take you back now."

I wrung out my hair as Optimus slowly started back to my house. I let the water fall onto my jeans. There was no real point about getting more water on the inside of the cab then what was already there. I watched the road. Optimus had turned on his head lights as the rain had created a haze that would only let either of us see only a foot in front of us.

"Miss Angel?"

I thought about something for a moment and then answered. "Alia."

"Huh?"

"My real name is Alia. My friends started calling me Angel as a nickname back in middle school. I guess the name stuck so everyone else just started calling me that too."

"I was thinking about your answer, Alia. I do believe you. It was not that I didn't want to before. But with the situation as it was at the time…"

I sighed. "It's okay. None of it is your fault. You did what was best at the time and I understand and respect that."

His face on the screen nodded in reply. Then a button on the dashboard beeped. He told me it was a communication from Prowl and the screen then went blank.

I watched the dim outlines of the houses as he talked with Prowl. I couldn't hear them but I figured Prowl was just checking up on where he was. My house came up and Optimus stopped out in front of it along the curb. I slid across the bench and opened the door to climb down.

He closed the door as my feet hit the sidewalk. The streetlamps provided illumination through the gloom. I stepped back farther onto the sidewalk then turned to walk back to my house.

"Alia?"

I turned back.

"You will come to the warehouse tomorrow?"

I nodded. "Yes. I'll bring everything that I have with me."

"See you then."

I watched as he started to drive off. Smiling I turned back and walked to my house.

I got to my front door when a defining boom echoed through the air. A bright flash of light blinded me for a second before disappearing as quickly as it had come. I turned towards where the light had come from in time to see Optimus land back onto the road hard, after having been blasted a few feet into the air. His trailer was nowhere to be seen but then I remembered he didn't have it in the first place.

My heart leapt into my throat as I sprinted towards him through the rain and the mud splashed sidewalk. It felt like forever before I finally reached him. I ran past the wheels to the cab. Optimus was slightly tilted as his lower left half lay in a two foot deep hole. His right side was stuck in the air about the same distance from the surface of the road.

I leaned down to check the underside. I wished afterwards that I hadn't. Metal and cables were melted and fused together. A line that I knew was a vital one that contained a vital part of Optimus' life and another tube were leaking black and a violet colored liquid. Both were slowly filling up the hole in the ground. I stood up again and placed my hands on either side of his front grill.

"Optimus? Optimus!!" I cried out, failing miserably at keeping the hysteria out of my voice as I called to him. I placed my hands right on the grill this time and almost immediately removed them as a large jolt of energy passed through me. I slowly reached out again and moved my hands as I tried to shake him, which surprisingly wasn't hard considering he was off balance but that didn't matter.

"Optimus!" I cried again, leaning my head against him. "Please… please answer me! Please Optimus!"

I let the tears that were flowing from my eyes mix with the rain as it came down and splashed off him and onto my face. I didn't care that I was soaked. I lifted my head for a second as I heard a deep groan come from him.

"Optimus?"

The groan sounded again. I sighed with relief that he was at least starting to respond. A ringing sound from my belt caused me to jump and I held back a scream as I lifted the communicator off of my belt and opened it.

"_Hello?!_"

"Ratchet!" I yelled into the phone.

"_Angel what happened?! One minute we're talking to Optimus the next minute all we're getting is static! What happened?_" he asked again.

I tried to keep the worry and hysterics out of my voice as I answered but I figured that he could probably hear them anyway.

"I… I don't know. One minute he's driving down the street to head back and the next minute there's this large boom and he's got one side in a hole and other in the air. His underside is melted and leaking fluid and he wasn't responding and he is now but I...I….I….I….!" I couldn't stop how fast the words came out of my mouth.

"_You weren't riding with him when it happened were you?!_" Ratchet said suddenly.

"No, no! He had already dropped me off at my house before this happened! Oh god Ratchet I swear if I had known I would have…!"

"_Angel _listen_ to me right now, you could not have known about this. It is not your fault._"

"But it is Ratch! I should have known that that bastard would try something like this! I should have known and then I could have warned Optimus about this! I could have…" I trailed off.

Tears started streaming down again and the words of what I wanted to say got caught up in my throat as I cried. I was surprised I was even able to have some sort of a conversation all this considered in this situation.

"_Enough_ _Angel calm down please. Just stay where you are okay?_"

"Okay." I replied pacing back and forth a few feet in front of Optimus.

I could hear Ratchet as he talked and tried his best to help calm me but I only half listened as I paced. Thoughts ran through my head like a giant conveyor belt on super speed. Was this David's doing or was it the Decepticons? If it was David what kind of bomb had he used? If it was even a bomb or a new version of one of his guns that exploded as it shot some poison into its victim?

My eyes kept going back to Optimus, there was no change no matter when I looked over at him. I just prayed that nothing else had been damaged. As I talked to Ratch I pulled a couple of rags out of my jacket pocket and tied each one around the breaks in the two fuel lines. The black and violet fluids swirled in the hole as the rain mixed them together creating haunting patterns.

The rags would keep the fluid at bay for a little while, hopefully long enough for Ratchet and the others to get down here but some lighting that had appeared in their area from the storm had knocked over one of the old, thick trees in front of the door.

Lighting flashed, illuminating the scene in its glowing white light. I turned my back to the alleyways that were across from the houses as I explained to Ratchet where Optimus and I were located along the road that led to my house.

A loud pop reached my ears and I gritted my teeth as a sharp pain shot through my right arm just below my shoulder. I held back another cry of pain as something grazed past my leg. I turned towards the alleyway where I had heard the pop come from. The lightning flashed again and I saw a tall figure holding something in his hand aimed straight at me.

The popping sound came again to my ears, louder this time than the others and something small and hard slammed into my right side. This pain, which felt like a fire had just ripped through my skin like a hot wire though butter, was too great to hold in and I shrieked long and loudly but was suddenly cut short as something or someone hit me in the side again and I saw a brief flash of silver pass by my side as whatever it was shot past me and disappeared back into the night. Leaving no trace as to what it was or what it had used on me.

The phone dropped from my hand and landed on the ground next to me as I fell back onto the ground. My left arm draped itself over my left side while my right arm lay by my head as I looked up at the dark, rain filled clouds as the water splashed onto my face. Rain falling into my eyes, melding with the tears from the pain I felt from what happened to Optimus and the wound in my side. I could feel that my legs were bent at the knee and were facing to one side. But slowly I lost feeling in my feet and it crept up my legs.

I slowly turned my head to the right looking at the communicator. I could faintly hear Ratchet calling out my name repeatedly. I tried to answer him but no sound escaped my throat. My eyes caught a glimmer of something and in the next lighting flash I saw the growing pool of my own blood as it swirled and twisted in different patterns before it traveled with the water towards the sewer drains.

That was the last thing I saw before my world went completely black.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note:** Hey everybody! Sorry about the wait, my computer went all crazy on me when I tried to post this last time. -_-' *sighs* I hate when that happens. To clear up some confusion my character's name, as stated in the first story is Alia. But she also answers to 'Angel' as that has been a nickname that her friends gave her when they were in school and it just sort of stuck. Just so you know because she's called both in this chapter for right now. Well, that's it for now. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any characters relating to Transformers, even though I own the DVDs. I only own my OCs that are in the story.

**Rating:** T

_TTTTTTTTTTTTTT_ = scene change

'_italics_' mental communication

"_italics_" talking on a phone

My entire right side felt like someone had put a line of blow torches beneath my skin and then lit them so the strong blue flame burned constantly as no one seemed to want to turn off the gas. That was the first thing I felt as I slowly regained feeling in my body as I became conscious of my surroundings. My fingers of my left hand scrapped against something soft underneath me as I moved them into a fist and then back again. Trying the same thing with my right hand didn't go so well as a sharp, bolt of pain went through my side. I gritted my teeth as I inched my fingers back to their original position.

I heard a door open somewhere and some footsteps echoed around me as their owner crossed the room where I was. Exactly where I could not really say. My thoughts went back to the hard, cold pavement as I lay on my back in the rain. Before that all that my memory gave me were the popping sounds and the figure I had seen in the alleyway. Then a sharp pain as something hit me and then sliced into my side before I fell backward to the ground, the sound of Ratchet's voice ringing in my ears as it tried to get me to reply.

The footsteps stopped.

"How is she Carly?" I heard someone ask. It sounded a lot like Spike, I hadn't seen him for awhile but his voice was easy to recognize.

I heard a sigh. "No change, unfortunately."

I felt the thing I was laying on move by my feet and then something slightly damp was removed from my side and I could hear sloshing as whatever it was, was put into some water. A glass object tapped on some metal and the cloth was placed gently back on my side. I bit back a hiss of pain at the coldness of the water and then a stinging sensation as another ingredient on the cloth ignited against the cut in my side that was still healing. In spite of my defiance, I groaned.

Apparently it had been loud enough for them to hear because the next thing that was spoken was my name.

"Angel? Angel?" Carly called to me.

Groaning again I opened my eyes, letting them adjust to the light that was shining down from the ceiling above me. I looked around as best I could before my head started to ache from the effort. I turned my head to the right and looked at Carly, who was once again sitting beside me, and Spike who was standing behind her, both with hopeful but worried looks on their faces as they stared at me.

"Angel?" Carly asked again.

"Hello." I replied groggily.

A look of pure joy crossed her face as she and Spike exchanged a look between them before Carly turned back to me, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder.

"Can you move at all?"

"A little, just on my left side. My right… not so much."

Spike nodded. "Yeah, we expected that. You're cut up pretty badly on your side. Not to mention the fact that you were also shot twice. One at the shoulder and once on your thigh before being shot a third time at the stomach. The first two though are only grazes and are not too deep."

I laughed as much as my side would let me. "But my side looks like hell huh?"

He nodded solemnly.

I managed a small smile. "How long have I been out Carly?"

"It's been four days, since we found you." She replied, her face taking a downcast look.

My eyes never left her face. "What is it?"

"We weren't sure you were going to make it. You had lost so much blood by the time any of us got to you…"

Despite the pain I lifted my right hand and placed it on hers. She looked up at me, her blue eyes glassy from the tears starting to form within them.

"Hey, I'm here aren't I? There's no reason to feel bad, what's happened has happened. We can't turn back time."

She sniffed, wiping her eyes with her left hand. "I know, but when we found you and Optimus…"

That got my attention. Forgetting the pain I suddenly found myself shooting up into a sitting position with both my hands on her shoulders.

"Optimus! Carly! Is he… is he alright?" I cried.

Carly didn't answer for some time. Whether it was from not wanting to tell me or from shock that I have moved as quickly as I did was uncertain. I was surprised myself but I didn't care if I had opened up my side would again because of it. The only thing that filled my mind right now was to know if Optimus was alright or not. She and Spike exchanged another look, both retaining their silence as long as they could just to keep me in torment about what had happened to the Autobot leader.

She moved back and forth in front of me as I shook her with what strength my arms had left in them. "Carly tell me! Please!"

"He's fine Angel. At least that's what Ratchet assured me when I last spoke with him. Optimus had sustained life threatening injuries from whatever that thing was that exploded." Carly explained, putting her hands gently on my shoulders as she tried to get me to lie back down. But I refused to move.

"Did you find what caused it?" I demanded.

"No." Spike replied softly. The shock and sharp confusion in my eyes must have been strong in the look I gave him. He hesitated, thinking over whether or not to tell me anything. He finally sighed in defeat as I didn't back down. Though I still thought he was debating what details he was exactly willing to give me.

He took another breath. "Whatever caused the hole in the ground and the injuries to Optimus and to you is gone."

"Gone?" I asked in disbelief.

Carly nodded. "Yeah. We searched the whole area around both of you and then several feet away in a perimeter, but no pieces were found at all. All we saw were scorch marks where the pieces could have been but it looked as if they had evaporated into thin air and that also includes whatever caused your own injuries."

I looked away. There were no weapons like that in David's arsenal, of that I was certain. My contact would have sent me information about it. But then again David could have developed something new just before he came here. I shoved that thought to the back of my mind. Whenever David started a new project he and his scientists were in their labs for months on end researching and testing new components for the weapons. There was no possible way for them to have one ready in just the few weeks from him being on a trip to D.C., as my contact had told me three weeks before David appeared, to then come here and have something completely new and ready to be used.

The figure in the alleyway appeared in my mind. From the distance and darkness it was hard to tell completely what they had looked like. But they had the shape and stature of a human being, heavily covered in what appeared, by the outline, to be a trench coat and wide brimmed hat similar to the ones that western cowboys wear. The figure had moved fast, fast than anything or anyone I had ever seen before, as it left the alleyway and struck me down. The flash of silver was brief but I remembered that it came from its arm as something else connected with my side besides the fist I had felt.

I turned my eyes to my side. Bandages had been wrapped around my entire middle and were extra thick over my right side where I could just make out faint traces of the blood that had started to soak the white coloring of the bandages before the wound had closed on its own. The grazes on my thigh and just under my shoulder were wrapped as well, though more thinly as they weren't that deep.

My clothes that I had been wearing were torn in those places, except for my vest that stopped just above the side wound and had no sleeves. My jacket and jeans were torn where the shots had gone through, though my jeans were also ripped from where I had hit the ground and a large chunk of my left leg, just below the knees, was torn completely off. _That_ I_ knew_ hadn't happened from the _fall_.

I took the damp cloth from my side and placed it on the side table and swung my legs over the side. Gritting my teeth I slowly lowered my feet to the ground and stood up. I faintly heard Carly telling me that it wasn't such a good idea to try that right now but I ignored her. These torn up legs of mine kept me up for a good five seconds and then collapsed beneath me and, not wanting to fall, I placed my strong hand on the nearest thing to keep me on my feet.

Unfortunately, that was my right hand.

I bit back a gasp of pain as Spike came forward and grabbed my left arm to hold me up. He maneuvered me back to sit on the bed which I did for the time being as I held my right hand, trying to get the pain to stop.

"I told you. Don't try it yet, you're not ready." Carly said.

I stared at her. "I'm fine, just a little unsteady that's all." I said as I slowly stood back up. My legs actually deciding to hold me up this time.

"You are stubborn. You know that?" Carly said, clearly irritated.

I smirked. "Yeah, Tara and Jen tell me that almost every single day. Where is Optimus?"

"He's with Ratchet in the small medbay that we have here. It's just around the corner."

"Spike! Stop encouraging her!"

"Hey, Ratchet wanted to check her out anyway after she woke up." Spike shrugged.

Carly rolled her eyes. "Fine. This way."

Walking was not as hard as I thought it would be. I had to take baby steps at first with Spike and Carly on either side to catch me if I fell again. But my strides got larger as my legs became accustomed to walking around again. As we exited the room I could hear voices drifting from another room. Spike told me that they others were probably playing some video games or watching some kind of movie.

"Video games?" I asked. "They play video games?!"

Spike smiled. "Yeah, especially Sunstreaker. He loves them."

He turned me away from that direction and continued towards yet another room that was across from the entrance garage door that I had shown Ratchet when I had first met him.

The medbay was the largest room in the building, as it also held a small table with other weapons that the Autobot's inventor had developed while they were here and were awaiting a return to their home base to be tested, though his main 'lab' was in yet another room.

Ratchet was sitting at a small table next to the weapons table with some machinery around him. Beyond him were two long metal slabs that looked like hospital gurneys. The one closest to him was empty but I could faintly make out Optimus on the other one as the three of us walked closer to the ambulance.

"Ratchet?"

He turned and looked down at us. "Yeah, what is… Alia!" A look of relief washed over his face as he saw me. He got up and came over to us, putting his hand to the ground and lifting me up onto the empty bed. He walked back to Spike and Carly for a second and said something I couldn't hear but they both nodded and replied. I faintly heard Spike say, "… just a few minutes ago." before both him and Carly left the room.

Ratchet walked back over. "How are you feeling Alia?"

"Fine I suppose except for the constant feeling of burning fire in my side but I guess that's expected."

Ratchet smiled and grabbed a couple on instruments from his table. The scanners picked up nothing else wrong and showed that my wounds were healing up nicely. I may have a scar or two on my side but nothing major.

"Ratch?"

"Hm?"

"Is it true you guys didn't find anything to show what had caused my injuries?"

He nodded slowly, a sad look on his face. "Yes, that's true. Whoever it was that caused this disappeared. We found no trace that anyone else besides you two had even been there in the first place." He walked back over to his table.

Spinning around I faced the table that Optimus lay on. A wave of nausea went through my stomach. The metal on his legs was torn and mangled in several places. A few places on his stomach and chest were also twisted and looked melted in long pieces of red metal and glass. Ratchet had done what he could to most of the areas. If I sat on my knees I could see the patched up tubes that looked like the blood veins that went through a human body, though these were thicker and had a protective coating on the outside to try and prevent tearing and breakage to the veins.

What surprised me the most was that he was not wearing his mask. Apparently it was not part of his face, as most people I had talked with after the Autobots had first appeared, had thought seeing as he always wore it. I hadn't thought his face had been damaged but my eyes landed on a smaller table on wheels with Ratch's repair tools and also held a mask that was badly scratched up and torn in half.

"Alia? You okay?" Ratchet asked.

I shook my head. "No… I'm not…"

He sighed. "This isn't your fault Alia. You didn't know that something like this would happen."

I whirled around and glared at him, my eyes beginning to sting from held back tears. "It is my fault Ratch! I should have known that bastard would try something like this! It should be me that's laying there like that, not him!"

"Don't you ever say something like that!" Ratchet snarled at me. "There is no reason that it should be you!"

"But…!" I protested.

"Enough!" he shot back. "Just don't think like that!"

Ratchet paused for a second as he tried to compose himself. His hand was tightly gripped around the table edge, hard enough that I could see that indents were starting to form in the metal. I wrapped my arms around me trying in vain to shrink myself to a smaller size. I had never seen Ratchet this angry but I had to say it. I would much rather be lying there instead of Optimus. Why go after him if I had been the real target? It just didn't make any sense to me at all.

He slowly let go of the table and headed for the door. A small pad that looked like a palm pilot clutched in his hand. He stopped at the door and turned back to me.

"He was asking about you, you know," he said, nodding towards Optimus. "He was more worried about you than himself. He's what you would call sedated right now but he should be awake in an hour or so."

Then Ratchet disappeared out the door.

I lay down on the table, pillowing my head with my good arm, as I faced Optimus. I shut my eyes as I tried to calm down the thoughts that were racing through my head at what felt like a thousand miles per second.

I must have fallen asleep as I felt a blanket over my shoulders covering me. Carly must have come back in with Ratchet to check up on me. Movement from the other table caught my eye as Optimus moved his arm; apparently it was hard for them to come out of whatever Ratchet did as it was for humans when they were put under anesthetic.

I sat up, letting the blanket fall off my shoulder. All the melted and bent up metal from before was repaired and he looked good as new. The only thing missing was his mask still but that didn't matter right now. I was just grateful that he was alive.

"Hey. You feeling any better?" I asked softly.

He turned his head towards me, smiling. "Much I suppose. You?" his face grew serious. "Ratchet said your wounds were pretty bad."

"Nothing a little R and R won't fix." I replied, standing up.

He moved his hand over to me and I climbed on as he brought me over to his side. I jumped off and then walked up his arm to sit on his shoulder.

"You're limping."

I sighed. "I know. Please don't tell Ratchet I'm walking around, he'd chew me out if he knew."

He smirked. "He yells at everyone who doesn't listen to him. It has just always been his way, I guess you could say that the more he shouts at you the more worried he is about you."

I held back a laugh. It wasn't that hard for me to picture Ratchet like that at all. He'd yelled at me before, just showing he cared in his own way. He reminded me a lot of my older brother who was very overprotective of me as we were growing up.

"I'm sorry about what happened to you. I should have been more careful about what might happen after the other day's confrontation…" I said, averting my eyes.

He raised his head, his eyes steady as they held mine when I looked back at him. "It's not your fault. Ratchet told you that already. And yes I heard your conversation," he added at my surprised look. "He's right. No one, not even you, could have predicted what happened. Just be glad that you're here and alive. I don't know what any of us in this warehouse would have done if you'd died."

A flash of pain went through his eyes. Not from a healing wound but from something else entirely. Another emotion that I didn't think he may have felt in a long time. I broke away my gaze and stared at anything but him for a few minutes as I tried to calm my nerves and the blood that was rushing to my ears as my heart was beating a mile a minute.

Though the strange thing was, it was like I could feel that pain in my own mind. I could feel what he was feeling and it was something that he wasn't even sure that he wanted to feel himself right now. As doing so would put me in even more trouble. I looked back and saw the surprised look I felt echoed in his eyes as he felt the same thing coming from me. But mixed with completely different emotions.

I looked away again, blocking all current thought from my mind until I figured out what this was.

"Ah, I see you're awake finally. About time."

I silently thanked Ratchet, as he came back into the room followed by Prowl and Ironhide. My old friend Steeljaw trotting after them before he leaped onto the table that I had been sleeping on before.

'_Sure, you tell _them_ you're awake but do you tell me, no_.' he huffed as he lay down on the table.

I smiled apologetically. '_Sorry_.'

He moved his head to the side. His equivalent of a shrug. _'Eh, it's okay. Glad you're alright but aren't you supposed to be resting?'_ He added, a smirk on his face.

My eyes widened. I was glad I was facing him and not the others in the room who were currently engaged in conversation as my face was starting to turn light shade of pink.

'_You knew that I wasn't resting and you told Ratchet! You little sneak! Optimus and I were just talking!'_

'_Uh huh. Looked to me though like it was something completely different.'_

Man, I wished more than anything that I has something to throw at him right now. _'What is that supposed to mean?!'_

He snorted and laid his head on his paws to watch us.

"Alia. Can you move?"

I looked up at Ratchet. "Huh? Oh sure."

I stepped down and walked onto 'Hide's waiting hand as he transported me back over to where Steeljaw now was. I sat down next to him as Ratchet and Prowl helped Optimus sit up on the table so Ratch could examine him to make sure everything was working properly. Ironhide reached over and handed his leader the mask that had been lying on the side table and Optimus put it on.

'_You think he's handsome don't you?'_

I glared at Steeljaw. _'I do not! Stop reading my mind!'_

'_I never said that I was reading your mind. But don't deny it either. It's written plainly on your face if anyone is willing to read it.'_

He had me there. I supposed that I did have some sort of feeling for Optimus. I wasn't sure when that had started; I hadn't even known him for that long. But I wasn't ready for that kind of relationship right now, coinciding with the fact of that strange feeling I had in my mind earlier. But most importantly, not with David still out there. Anyone close to me would be on David's hit list.

Not that Optimus, Ratchet and the others weren't already on it in the first place, and possibly some if not all of the Decepticons too knowing him. It didn't matter whether they were part of different sides or not, they all looked the same to David.

"I don't know, whatever or whoever it was is gone now. I've been listening to some people who have been walking around town. They keep talking about a man who is asking questions about Miss Angel there." I heard Prowl say quietly. "He says he's an old friend or something."

I rolled my eyes. Yep, there went David again, probably wondering where I had vanished too. As if he didn't already know or had some idea!

"What have the humans been telling him?" Optimus asked, a hint of worry in his voice. I shivered. Even though he was talking to Prowl I could feel his eyes on me.

"They've been telling him that she's been missing the past few days, apparently because of a sudden trip home." Prowl replied.

Ratchet sighed. "Well that's good. At least she's safe for the time being and so are you," he stated pointedly to Optimus. "It will give us time to think of some way to get rid of him."

"At least some way for _me_ to get rid of him…" I whispered to myself.

_TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT_

A few days later I was well enough to go with Carly and Spike to my house to get a couple of things and more importantly my car which had all the weapons I had in my possession in the trunk. Most of my more prized possessions and irreplaceable stuff I stored where the weapons had been in case of the off chance that my house would get blown up sometime in the future.

We drove back and unloaded the trunk, each carrying a box or weapon at a time since they were kinda heavy. A pile started to grow in the area that had been designated as Wheeljack's 'lab' while they were here, since he wanted to see what the weapons did and how they were made. I gave the boxes of vials to Ratchet so he could break down what was needed to make more of the antidotes.

I laid each weapon out on a special table that Wheeljack had placed in the center of the lab, facing a wall so that if something went wrong it would fire outside and not in. But then the table was placed far enough that a blast wouldn't hit the wall, or at least we hoped. I answered as much of Wheeljack's questions as I could as I set everything up.

Each of the weapons were grouped into categories of what would create a bullet sized wound to ones that would make a sizable dent if not a crater in either metal or concrete. Then I matched them up from what crystals or stones inside the separate chambers melted wires and sheet metal to those that caused the delicate workings of any machine to implode on themselves so whatever it was basically exploded from the inside out.

Wheeljack was very attentive and eager to learn what each one was as a kid would be when he first went into a candy store. He was also grateful for the blueprints I had for the weapons and looked at them right now through a magnifying glass panel until he could have their computer back at base, Teletran 1, make larger more readable copies to be stored in his more permanent lab.

Using the test materials that I had also brought with me, I showed him in actual life what each one did. Ratchet, Prowl, or even some of the others popped in from time to time to see what was going on. Steeljaw and Rewind were there constantly to watch as were Carly and Spike. Optimus came in once or twice, asking some questions of his own, but that was it as he had to give orders to others back at base about who to send out to stop a more recent Decepticon attack.

Now, as I'm sure some of you had figured, I had specifically told Wheeljack **not** to touch **anything** unless I said so. But it's _Wheeljack_, he can't keep his eager hands off of anything that could be tinkered with. So when I was setting aside a weapon that I had just used while Ratchet helped Carly, Spike, and Rewind down from the table. Wheeljack started to play with one of the bigger, and more recent, weapons of my arsenal.

I froze when I started to hear the humming noise behind me and whirled around as Wheeljack examined the thing closer to find out where it was coming from.

"Wheeljack what did you do?!" I shouted, running over.

He shrugged. "I just wanted to see what it did, so I turned it on." He motioned towards the button he had pressed.

I looked over it and stopped dead in my tracks. He had pressed the self-destruct.

'_Steel! Get the other weapons off the table! Hurry!'_ I sent quickly as I tried to turn it back.

He set about his task and pushed each one off the table.

Wheeljack tried to help me but I shoved his hand out of the way but then it started flashing.

Crap.

"GET DOWN!" I shrieked as I ran to get off the table.

Wheeljack and the others didn't have to be told twice. They ran for cover behind a large piece of metal that was separate from the back wall. Steeljaw stopped long enough for me to jump on his back and then he ran and jumped off the table towards the small desk that Wheeljack had in the room.

BOOM!!!

The blast echoed in my ears as the hot rush of air and flame blasted behind us and literally threw me and Steel onto the desk. I landed two feet from Steel and curled into a ball as some loose pieces of metal and concrete fell from the ceiling.

As quickly as it had started the blast the shockwave of the blast passed over. I slowly raised my head from the fetal position I was in and watched as the flames from the weapon sent dark smoke into the air and it went out through the new skylight hole in the ceiling above where the weapon has stood. The back wall and floor also had huge holes in them and thankfully none of the other weapons had been directly underneath it as it had exploded.

There was also a large hole in the wall behind the weapon that was right next to the entrance to the lab from the warehouse itself. The hole was about twenty feet in diameter both ways and I was shocked that the wall was still standing. Thank you to whoever invented reinforced concrete.

The weapon itself was in no better shape. The top capsule had split open upwards causing the rocks to shoot through the ceiling and the energy canister near the trigger of the weapon at the back was now made up of several ribbons of twisted metal that bent backwards towards the muzzle of the gun and reminded me of a cartoon weapon after the rabbit had stuck his finger in the end of it.

Ratchet and the others slowly made their way out from behind the piece of metal. By pure luck the weapon had not decided to explode that way as the muzzle was completely intact. If looks could kill I am quite sure Wheeljack would have been a steaming pile of metal from the dark glare I gave him, made even more so since my green eyes darkened whenever I was in a bad mood. Steeljaw came up beside me and shook himself to get rid of the dust and small pieces of debris that had fallen on him.

I dusted myself off as Ratchet tested the table's stability and the thing practically collapsed in on itself as it fell to the floor, the still smoking weapon in the middle of it.

"What the…?!"

We turned and faced Jazz and Prowl who stood frozen in the doorway each with a shocked expression on their faces. Two others, one red and one yellow that I knew from watching the news to be Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, were each poking their head around the hole in the wall with one on each side of it.

Ironhide, Bumblebee, and a tall, green Autobot with what looked to be a missile launcher on this shoulder came next and carefully picked up some of the debris that had flown outside the room through the hole. The twins helped carry the larger chunks outside and placed them somewhere in a pile as each one was moved. Carly, Spike and Rewind went around the now broken table and picked up the other weapons before quickly carrying them to the boxes beneath the desk so that nothing loose fell on them and accidentally triggered another explosion.

"What happened?" Prowl finally demanded just as Optimus came around from where he was in the warehouse with Blaster right behind him.

"Wheeljack happened." I growled, crossing my arms.

Prowl shot an annoyed look at Wheeljack who was currently very interested in the floor or anything else that didn't contain an angry face.

"What did you do now?" Jazz asked in an exasperated tone.

"Look I didn't mean it, I said I was sorry…" the inventor trailed off.

"I know you're sorry. You're just lucky it wasn't another weapon or the whole roof would have come off this building and that no one was seriously hurt. But," he looked at me when I paused. "If you ever and I mean _ever_, do something like that again. I will personally ask Ratchet to permanently weld your hands into fists!"

Tension in the room slowly evaporated as Jazz and even some of the others started to laugh at Wheeljack's expression. They would all be happy if I made good on that threat if even for a day to make sure that for once Wheeljack didn't blow anything up in their faces or base. Ratchet got an evil look on his face at that thought and told his friend that he would make good on that the next time he ended up in the medbay back at home.

Steeljaw went down and brought the weapon back up to me so that I could closely examine the damage. Then he left with Rewind to go back to Blaster who needed them for some help with a communications relay that had shorted out. I grabbed one of the tools I had on the desk and started to cut off the ribbon metal on the trigger end of the gun.

"What caused it?"

I looked up at Optimus, noticing that he had stayed in the room with me when the others had cleared out.

"Wheeljack pressed the self-destruct button. Luckily it didn't fire out of the muzzle otherwise there could have been more serious injuries." I said finally as I sliced through the last piece of metal and started on removing the holding chamber's glass covering.

"I take it that you'll be staying here with us for awhile then? You seemed eager to make good on that threat of yours." I could see the smile behind his mask as he eyes were filled with laughter.

"Yeah, I'll stay. Someone's got to make sure that he'll blow up something and then Ratchet can have all the fun he wants." I replied with a smile.

There was a brief silence before both of us laughed outright with that thought, the explosion and even David, a far thought in both of our minds at the sight of Ratchet actually welding Wheeljack's hands into their proper place for once.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note:** Thanks for your comments everyone! They really helped me out a lot while I was writing this. Thanks!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any characters relating to Transformers, even though I own the DVDs. I only own my OCs that are in the story.

**Rating:** T

_TTTTTTTTTTTTTT_ = scene change

'_italics_' mental communication

"_italics_" talking on a phone

The scene that lay before my eyes was one of complete and utter chaos. The dark night sky that was spotted with glittering stars, was lit up even more by the light of the flames as they shot up to touch those stars from the buildings that they rose from. Each current fire and even more new ones kept popping up as the buildings were hit by the constant stream of gun fire shooting back and forth between the two opposing sides.

The slate gray of the ground glittered with the reflected light that danced across its surface. Only broken once in a while when someone ran behind new cover from where their previous position was as I watched them from well over a thousand feet above their heads.

I watched as during the battle, one of the buildings' roofs started to go down like an elevator, revealing a large, golden ship inside. A large blast came from outside the building as it tried to destroy it but the building held its ground. I suddenly felt myself fly down towards the planet and the ship as I went inside the building.

Through the smoke I could see Jazz and Prowl running towards the ship with Ironhide and Optimus not too far behind them. My eyes widened. I had thought that this was Cybertron when I first laid eyes on it but how was I seeing this in the first place? I had never been to Cybertron let alone see it as well and in as much detail as I did now. I had heard so much about this place from Spike, who had been here, but never did he tell me something like this.

My thoughts turned to Cybertron's past. I had asked Rewind and Steeljaw over the past few days about it and they had said it was once a marvelous and beautiful place to live before all the energy was taken out of it when the war had first started. Now I sat and watched as more of this place, the home of my friends, was slowly destroyed as they were about to take off in their ship to help restore the planet to its original state and beauty with the energy they found on other worlds.

Prime and the others made it to the ship and the hatch closed behind them. I saw them appear at one of the windows beneath where the bridge area would be. My view then changed again to outside the building. My eyes caught a flash as four people ran for their lives towards another building for shelter.

The one in the front was blue and gold in color with wings on his back that were similar to Prowl's. The three behind him were a lot slimmer than the Autobots I had met and I remembered that Rewind had said that there were female Autobots as well, referred to as femmes.

One was colored violet, black, and green, odd considering I had seen two of those colors on a Decepticon before, never on an Autobot. She had what looked like horns on either side of her head that curved backward and some star-shaped weapons strapped around her legs.

The second one was colored pink and gold and had airplane wings coming out of her back with jets on the end of each one. She also had what looked like a star that sat on the back of her helmet and made it look like she had a crown on if someone saw her from the front and had two laser guns, one on each hip.

Though the last of them was one that really caught my eyes. The fire reflected off of her rose, silver, and sky blue colors, making each one glow with an unnatural beauty. Her helmet was beautifully designed with wings on either side and a curved back to protect her neck. Coming out of the helmet though was a long silvery-gold braid that flew about as she ran.

An Autobot with hair? Now that was something completely new to me.

I heard a shout from somewhere else behind me and I saw the one in front whirl around as a bright burst of light flew past me. Time seemed to slow down as I saw him block and divert the attack away from them as he rushed past the girls to protect them. He then waved a hand in a circle around his head and they were surrounded by a white light. Each of the girls disappeared one by one to somewhere else away from Cybertron, but he lingered behind for a few moments as he threw something black with stray pieces of metal in it onto the ground.

Then he turned his bright, sapphire eyes towards me. I froze as those eyes seemed to burn right into my soul. A small smile graced his lips as he started to slowly vanish as well, following the three he sent before him.

''_Remember…''_ I heard a voice in my head say.

''_Remember… Alia…''_

'_Alia…_' I watched as he finally disappeared.

'_Alia…_' I was puzzled as the voice seemed closer to me than before. Then my view started to swirl and distort around me throwing everything into a jumble of colors and shapes.

'_ALIA!!_'

_TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT_

My eyes flew open and the first thing I saw was Steeljaw's head taking up my whole field of vision. I reached up and pushed him backward so that I could sit up. I looked around me dazed and confused about where in the world I was.

'_Well it's about time!'_ Steeljaw growled. _'I thought you were never going to wake up!'_

'_What happened?'_ I asked, still a little unsure.

He was instantly remorseful. _'Sorry. You hit your head after the blast knocked us off our feet. Remember?'_

The memories came back to me like a raging wave after an earthquake. I remembered that the day had started off normally. Carly and I had just gotten back from getting some food for her, Spike, and myself. Then the Decepticons had attacked the base. We had gotten under some cover but one of the shots from Megatron's cannon had strayed and smashed into the ground not even five feet away from where Steeljaw and I had been.

'_Where are Spike and Carly?!'_

Steeljaw leaned down and supported me as I stood back up on my feet. _'They're this way, out the back of the building.'_

We ran towards the back door. Jumping over the fallen concrete from the ceiling and a few of the walls that had been knocked down elsewhere. I could still hear the shots of the fight, some close some far away. The door came open easily and we made it through just before a large stone slab fell down behind us, blocking the door. We made our way towards Spike and Carly as they stood at the far end of the alleyway away from the warehouse.

"Thank God. I thought you two had gotten hurt!" Carly exclaimed, a relieved look on her face.

"No, I just got knocked out for a minute or two." I replied.

'_More like five.'_

'_Shut up.'_

I looked back at Spike. "What's happened so far?"

"Optimus and the others are trying to lead the Decepticons away from the warehouse. It's worked so far but I don't think it will for long."

"We better get out of the way then. It won't to anyone any good if we got hurt." I said.

Both of them nodded and we headed out towards my house. Shouts and some explosions echoed behind us as we ran down the hill and came out on the sidewalk. We could see the other people of the town running for their lives on the streets just down the other hill that let towards the center of town. Just a few stragglers left their homes to join the throng of people as we ran past.

'_DOWN!'_

Steeljaw's voice echoed in my head as I suddenly found myself being pushed onto the ground. Spike and Carly followed suit as something flew over our heads from just to the left of us between the houses just a few houses down from my own home. I lifted my head and looked in that direction as Steeljaw kept himself between me and whatever it was, a deep growl coming from his throat as he roared at whoever it was.

"You know. If it wasn't for that blasted creature, I would have had you where I wanted you."

I froze as David and two others came out of the shadows. Each of them was dressed in black from head to toe with several weapons strapped to them as well as one in each hand. Carly and Spike moved as they lifted themselves off the ground just a little. I got onto my knees before placing my right foot flat on the ground.

"What do you want?!" I shouted.

"What else do you think?" was the calm, reply. He then lowered the gun in his right hand and shot a warning blast at Carly and Spike.

"Leave them alone! They have nothing to do with this!" I shouted.

There was no warmth in the smile he gave. "Oh but they do. You involved them when you joined their little group."

I looked at the two next to me. Carly was shaking as Spike held her and kept a level gaze at David to see what he would do next. Carly glanced over at me. I motioned for them to run back the way we had come, hopefully one of the Autobots would spot them. She tugged on Spike's arm and they sped back down the way we had come.

"After them." David ordered. The two men beside him started after my friends.

"No!"

'_Alia!'_

I ducked just as another shot from David's gun went over my head.

'_Run Alia!'_ Steeljaw shouted.

'_But…'_

He glared at me. _'Don't argue, just go!!'_

I nodded and then sprinted off down the street towards the observation area as fast as I could. I heard David yell as Steeljaw pounced on him, tearing at whatever he could get his teeth on. I was around the corner as a strangled roar reached my ears and Steeljaw's words of _'keep running!'_ shot through my mind before his voice died out.

**Spike**

My lungs were burning as air past through them but I willed myself to go on. I shot a glance over my shoulder every few seconds to check on where those two men were that were following me and Carly. Both of them looked like well dressed Rambos instead of being dressed for the war in a jungle or something like that.

I looked back again before stealing a glance at Carly. Even in all this she managed an encouraging smile and nodded as she went a little faster. Both of us ran around the corner to the road that led back to the warehouse, just as a shot pierced through the air and slammed into the building overhead.

**Prowl**

One of the shots I fired smacked Starscream right in the face, knocking him backward in the air several feet. He snarled in rage and shot a null ray blast at me which missed by a couple of feet. I fired again, this time hitting a wing and he fell into the water. I then turned and ran over to help Bumblebee who was currently trying to fight off both Rumble and Ravage.

I grabbed Ravage around his middle and literally threw him over the cliff edge into the water. Bee managed to push Rumble back far enough before getting a shot off aimed right at Rumble's chest and sent him flying over the edge as well. I saw Soundwave, though he was fighting with Wheeljack and Blaster, turn as he heard, or felt, his cassettes cry out as they were harmed. But Blaster punched him in the face, returning his attention to the matter at hand.

"You okay?"

Bumblebee nodded. "Yeah. Do you know where Spike and Carly are?"

"No," I replied, shaking my head. "I thought they were with you…"

We both turned as a shot rang out down the hill below us. Spike and Carly then ran over the top of the hill and headed for us with two men appeared shortly after them in hot pursuit. One of them got off another shot and it struck Carly in the leg, knocking her down. Bumblebee rushed over to her as I went for the two pursuers.

They both stopped in their tracks as I came at them. They only paused for a second before trying to run but I swatted them with the back of my hand and they flew back down the hill and didn't stop until they crashed through the wall of one of the buildings at the bottom.

"Prowl?!" Bumblebee cried, shocked.

"Don't start. They deserved that and you know it."

He nodded slowly as he turned his attention back to Carly, helping her up as Spike tore a piece of cloth from his shirt to tie around the wound. I turned and watched as the Decepticons, at least what was left of them, flew off after their leader as he called a retreat. Ratchet went around helping to repair the slight wounds that some of the others had received from the fight but from what I could see it was nothing major.

Jazz and Rewind made their way over to us.

"How is everyone?"

Jazz smiled. "Just a few scrapes that's all."

"Good." I replied and went past him as Optimus and Ironhide came over to be debriefed on what exact damage had been done around us.

**Rewind**

After coming over with Jazz I broke off and ran over to where Spike and Carly were. Bumblebee was holding on to her as Spike finished wrapping up her leg. Both of them looked unhurt, except for the one scrap now because a stray shot. I had lost sight of them when the fighting had begun outside the warehouse. I had been in the main communication room and was blocked by a huge slab of rock before I could get to Wheeljack's lab, where all of them had been.

I looked around us, my eyes searching frantically for any sign of Alia or Steeljaw. Blaster had told me that he knew Steeljaw and the others were all safe so thankfully they weren't still inside the building. But now where were those two? I half expected the both of them to come out of one of the alleyways any minute now and stop the slight panic that started rising within me.

"Spike, where's Alia?" I asked, not bothering to hide the worry in my voice.

He looked up at me as he finally finished the last not, securing the cloth to Carly's leg. "We don't know. We left the warehouse to head back to her home for the time being but we got shot at. That guy from before, David, it was like he was waiting for us!"

I could feel myself start to shake with fear. The voices of Prowl and the others above me stopped and I could feel their eyes gazing down at the four of us on the ground as Spike was explaining what happened.

"What happened then?"

"He, he said that he would have finally gotten rid of her if it wasn't for Steeljaw's warning. We ran back here and those two men that Prowl sent flying down the hill came after us to kill us I think."

"You left her there!" I exclaimed.

"She told us too!" Carly shouted, moving into a sitting position. "She didn't want us to get hurt!"

"Where is she now?" Optimus asked.

**Alia**

I sat in an alleyway behind a dumpster trying to catch my breath. I could hear David walking slowly in the distance as he came closer towards the alleyway. The other end of the alleyway, that I was facing, was an exit towards the observation point that was right across the street.

I know this kind of thing would probably make people see their lives flash before them but that wasn't happening with me. The only images in my mind were the faces of my friends if this didn't end in some way here and now. I just didn't understand why David didn't just keel over and die, it was like he was a cockroach incarnate, but a thousand times worse.

"Why don't you make this easier on yourself little bijou? Just give up." David's voice echoed around me.

With no noise from anyone else it felt like his voice was right next to me instead of passing the entrance to the alleyway. I peeked around the corner of the dumpster. David slowly walked by the entrance I had come in, his head moving back and forth as he scanned around for me.

Even at this distance I could tell that the weapon he held was powered up and ready to fire. He walked past without even a second glance down the alley and I quickly moved to another position behind some boxes that were closer to the exit.

'_Alia?'_

I bit back a gasp. _'Steeljaw? Are you alright? What happened?'_

He sounded a little woozy when he replied. _'I'm okay, he hit me hard over the head with something that knocked me out. Where are you? We need to know to find you.'_

'_No! I need you guys to stay where you are! Don't come find me please!'_

'_Alia, don't argue!'_

I froze as I heard a shot at the front of the alley.

"Where are you! I know you're down there!"

'_Crap.'_

'_What is it?!'_

'_Nothing! Gotta go!'_

I broke off communication and sprinted out of the alley. I ran to the left and a laser went past me and exploded on the metal railing of the observation area causing it to twist and melt into a silvery puddle. I got a little further before another shot struck me on the leg, right where my newly healed wound was from the other night. A shout of pain escaped my throat as I fell onto the ground, holding onto my leg.

**Steeljaw**

My head shot up as I heard Alia's shout. I jumped off the ground, throwing off Rewind who had been helping me remember exactly where I was. Without giving anyone time to think I ran off towards where the shout had come from. Hoping to all Primus that we weren't too late.

**Alia**

I could only watch as David got closer. Somehow I gathered the strength to get up again and ran towards the stairs that led down to the small beach area beneath this first level of the observation area. I flung open the gate and ran down the stairs, as best I could with an injured leg, as another shot just missed my head by a few inches. The stairs were made of wood so it wasn't hard to hear his footsteps as he started after me.

I reached the bottom and swung myself around to crouch under the stairs. I looked in the sand for anything that I could use against him for now. My fingers touched something cold and hard just beneath the first stair and I picked up a lead pipe, left over from when they put piping in for the fountains that were on the upper level. I leaned as far as I could into the stairs as he finally reached the bottom.

He stepped out in front of the stairs, his back to me. He slowly turned his head, scanning for where I could have possibly gone and started for the water. I came out from under the stairs behind him and swung the pipe with all my strength.

**Ratchet**

Optimus, Prowl, and I headed after Steeljaw as he led us away from Alia's house and towards another area of town. Jazz, with Spike, Carly and Rewind, was following at a slower pace in case anything bad happened and they needed to get away quickly.

The place gave off an eerie vibe as no other humans were around. That would make whatever was going to happen a lot easier without having to worry about hurting innocents or not. I sped up to keep Steeljaw in sight. For a cassette he was pretty fast on his feet.

We came around a corner and Steeljaw headed towards a branch off road that led to what the humans called a 'rest area'. From here I could see that part of the metal fence was melted. I just hoped that we would find Alia somewhere safe.

**Alia**

I was about halfway back up the stairs when I saw David start to move again. Damn, I thought I had killed him! He had fallen like a rock after the pipe had bludgeoned his head. I gritted my teeth and went up the stairs two at a time. I reached the last couple of stairs before getting back onto solid ground and looked over. David slowly got up and grabbed his weapon. I ducked back and ran before he saw me. I slammed the gate behind me and started towards the alleyways again.

A roar reached my ears and I turned to see Steeljaw heading towards me with Ratchet, Prowl and Optimus right behind him. I ran towards them and met Steeljaw about halfway between the stairway and the edge of the small information building that stood near the edge of the observation point. I wrapped my arms around Steeljaw's neck, thankful that he was alright. I looked up at the others as they pulled to a stop behind him.

"I told you to stay away! He's still down there!" I said, pointing towards the stairs. "He'll kill you if he finds you here!"

"Then let us take you back to the warehouse." Optimus said calmly. "It would be safe…"

I shook my head. "No it wouldn't! He'd find me, he won't stop until he's completed his task like I told you before! I would rather die than lead him back to any of you!"

Even though they were in their alternate forms I could feel both their glares on me as I defied them. It wasn't as if I didn't want to go. But I cared more for them then my life right at the moment. I heard the sound of some rockets powering up. I whirled around just as David flew up from the beach area, smoke coming from the backpack he wore. The launcher he had in his hands, he raised up and aimed at me and Steeljaw.

Steeljaw and I jumped away from each other as a small missile slammed into the ground, creating a five foot wide crater. I rolled on the ground as the blast knocked me further away from the Autobots. I got up on my hands and knees. I heard them transform.

"Alia! Watch out!" Ratchet shouted at me.

Before I could move I was grabbed from behind with an arm wrapped around my neck and a cold piece of steel pressed to the back of my head. The arm was thick with armor and small projectiles that could be loaded into any type of weapon. A foot was next to the inside of my right leg as I was still on my knees. A knee and some armor were pressing into my back as the arm brought me closer to the person behind me. In front of me I could see Optimus and the others all standing there, their own weapons aimed and ready.

"Stand down freaks! Or she dies!" David shouted, pressing the gun against my head harder that before for emphasis.

**Optimus**

I had had a clear shot before but now that he had Alia as a shield I wasn't sure I could get him without hurting her. Prowl and Ratchet behind me slowly lowered their own weapons. I started to lower mine, keeping an eye on Alia as I did. Her green eyes looked at me with fear, but there was also a desperate look, her eyes silently pleaded with me to go ahead and shoot to kill him. But I couldn't… I couldn't, no I wouldn't risk it! I didn't care what the outcome of this stand-off was, just as long as she was safe... that was all that mattered.

**Carly**

After Jazz had stopped behind the corner of the buildings, Spike and I had gotten out and made our way through the alleys to try and get where Alia had landed after the missile blast. By the time we got there David already had the gun pointed to her head. Something that poked out from behind a box caught my eye and I moved it revealing Alia's Desert Eagle that she always carried with her, just in case. I picked it up and showed it to Spike.

"It must have fallen off before she started running again." he whispered.

"Maybe," I replied. "Let's use it."

"What?!" he hissed.

"We have to do something!" I hissed back and removed the safety from the gun.

**Alia**

"You have smart friends little bijou." David whispered so that only I would hear him as we both watched Optimus slowly lower his ion blaster.

My eyes went from Prowl to Ratchet before finally stopping on Optimus. Our eyes held each other for a few moments both of us not exactly knowing what to do and knowing that we could do nothing without hurting the other in some way.

I could hear the smirk in David's voice. "I'd say your goodbyes if I were you."

Before I could reply David suddenly yelled in pain, dropping the gun in his hand to the ground as he clutched his wrist. I looked over to the alley and saw Carly holding my slightly smoking gun in her hands while Spike was frantically waving for me to get away. I nodded and grabbed the gun from the ground before running over.

I hadn't gotten far when my hand was suddenly jerked behind me and the gun literally flew out of my hand and went back the way it had come. Spike grabbed me and pulled me down into the alley as I watched the firearm go right back into David's hand. There was some sort of magnet that caused the glove on his hand to glow when in use. The glow died exactly when the weapon was back home.

"Bad decision!"

The weapon fired, right at Optimus and the others.

I hadn't even realized that I moved until I found myself in front of the bright blue-violet light that was flying through the air. The energy rammed into me full force. Someone shrieked in pain, I didn't even recognize it as my own voice for a few seconds. My hands moving to cover my ears to keep that haunting sound from echoing in my head.

The energy ripped through and washed over me, moving through my veins like rushing water. My blood felt like it was on fire and I felt like I would melt from the inside because of the painful heat and burning sensations that the energy caused.

My eyes were only open for a second before being closed in pain again. In that brief second I could see that in a sense I was glowing as the energy did whatever job it was programmed to do.

I could barely hear anything around me. The only coherent thing that reached me was Carly's screaming my name and both Spike's and Steeljaw's roars of rage as they apparently charged towards David. I could hear the faint hiss of a gas that was released and someone coughing, then someone shouting orders to look for whoever had gotten away and finally the roar of engines as those ordered drove away.

The energy then dissipated and I felt myself fall to the ground. Any possible strength that I had had in me before was completely shattered and I was numb from the energy so I didn't even feel the ground when I hit it.

I must have blacked out for a few moments because the next thing I remember was being on my side, with one arm by my face and another over my side slightly feeling the heat off of the pavement and someone gently touching the side of my face.

I forced my eyes open and slowly turned my head to look up at Optimus who was currently kneeling down beside me. Concern filled his eyes as he watched me. I knew that if I wasn't lying here half dead I was sure either him or Ratchet, more than likely Ratchet who I saw standing a little ways behind him, would chew me out for not staying out of the way and keeping myself safe.

I smiled weakly. "You… all… alright?" I managed to get out.

He looked like he was about to cry but he nodded slowly anyway.

"That's… good…" I said before blacking out again.

**Ratchet**

My fists shook where they were at my sides. Rage all but consumed me at the fact that not only that Alia might be mortally injured but also at the fact that the son of a bitch that shot her had gotten away from me, Prowl and Jazz as we chased after him while Optimus stayed to keep an eye on Alia. I had gotten back and told Optimus what happened and then Alia woke up for a short time before she blacked out again.

Spike and Carly went over to her. Spike gently lifted her off of the ground.

"Ratchet! We need to get her to the hospital!"

Optimus and I exchanged a glance before he nodded and I transformed, opening my rear door to let Spike and Carly in as they carefully moved Alia. As soon as they were settled I slammed the door and rushed towards the hospital with Optimus not far behind me.

**Carly**

Spike and I got out as soon as Ratchet stopped in front of the hospital and rushed Alia inside. We found a nurse and told her what happened. She brought us a gurney and Spike laid Alia onto it before the nurse and two doctors rushed her through the hospital corridors with both of us following. The nurse stopped us as they took Alia into an emergency care room.

We sat down on one of the cushioned benches and waited. I went back to the front to check on the others and I could see all of them in the parking lot, transformed in their vehicle forms, even though it was basically empty. Faint voices reached my ears as Prowl informed the others who had stayed at the warehouse about what had happened. I grabbed a water bottle from the vending machine and headed back to where I had left Spike.

A few hours past before one of the doctors finally emerged from the room. We shot up from our seats, fearing the worst.

The doctor raised a hand. "It's okay, no need to panic. Her condition is stable for now but we won't know anything definite for another twenty-four hours. Is there a number I can reach you at to let you know?"

I nodded and gave him my cell number as the other doctor and the nurse came out of the room. I went in as Spike talked to the doctor some more. Alia lay on another gurney in a hospital gown and was wrapped in a few blankets. An oxygen machine and IV were hooked up to her. I held onto her hand, afraid that if I left something bad might happen.

"Carly?"

I turned to Spike.

"Come on. We have to go."

"But…"

He walked over to me, placing a hand on my shoulder. "I know, I don't want to leave either but we have to get back to the Ark."

I nodded slowly and with one last look we left Alia's room and headed outside. Bumblebee opened a door for us and we climbed in. Spike explained to the others that the doctor would call us if Alia's condition changed at all or not if, well, those words didn't really have to be spoken. I watched the hospital as long as I could before I had to turn around as we headed back home.

_TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT_

_Elsewhere in the Universe…_

The man, if you could really describe him as such, turned off the screen after witnessing what happened in Duluth. He eyes showed no emotion whatsoever as the girl on the screen collapsed after the energy that had enveloped her whole body disappeared. He turned around in his chair and faced one of his soldiers who was kneeling at the base of the stairs that led to the man's large computer.

"It seems our little servant has taken care of what you failed to do, Telshann." The man stated coldly.

Telshann flinched. "Forgive me, my lord."

He couldn't really say anything more. His master was harsh and would not stand for excuses. Though no emotion showed on his face he was seething inside. Why had that puny, almost insignificant newcomer that his master had found on earth been able to succeed where he had not? It just was not in any way fair. But his master was happy and right now that was all that concerned him.

"I want you to keep an eye on our little protégé Telshann. Let's just hope for _both_ your sakes that she stays dead this time." the Master stated before facing his computer again to come up with a plan for business that concerned him elsewhere in the galaxy.

"As you wish sir." Telshann said as he bowed before backing out of the room and disappeared into the shadows.

**Author's Note:** TBC in Journey to Oregon


End file.
